


Thicker than Water

by Aiffe



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Biting Porn, Blood Drinking, Character Turned Into Vampire, F/M, Hemoeroticism, Id Fic, Vampires, character torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-20
Updated: 2012-07-25
Packaged: 2017-11-10 08:04:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 50,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/464042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aiffe/pseuds/Aiffe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vampire AU. Amon is a vampire, and takes more than Tahno's bending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Strong hands held Tahno’s arms, twisting them painfully, forcing him to kneel. He looked up at the masked monster, more afraid than he’d ever been in his life. “I’ll give you the championship pot,” he babbled, “I’ll give you _everything_ , just please don’t kill me.”

There was no sympathy in the eyes behind the mask. Amon hated benders. And everyone knew there was just one way to take a bender’s bending away.

Amon knelt beside him, and Tahno tried ineffectively to squirm away, his heart pounding in terror. Amon’s hand brushed his cheek, and then he grabbed Tahno’s hair, twisting it around his fingers, and pulled his head to the side, exposing his neck. Tahno could only watch as that mask moved closer and closer to him, until he couldn’t see those cruel eyes looking at him anymore, and Amon slid the mask up just a few inches, enough to expose his mouth, now hidden in the curve of Tahno’s neck.

Tahno cried out at the sudden pain. Amon pulled his hair harder, twisting his face around almost to his shoulder. He could see the stands, full of shocked faces. An entire crowd was watching him die. He could hear Amon sucking at his wound, feel his cold lips on his skin. The pain was getting worse. “Please stop,” he whimpered, barely even knowing what he was saying, knowing it wouldn’t help anyway. “I learned my lesson. I’ll never….” he trailed off. He’d never what? Cheat? Bend? Breathe? Amon was going to make sure of that.

He was beginning to feel quite faint. His vision swam and darkened. Everything sounded distant and echoed, as though he were at the end of a long, narrow tunnel. He knew the Equalists’ hands on him were the only things keeping him upright.

Finally, it stopped, and for a moment he dared to hope Amon was showing him mercy. Maybe he’d just been giving him a good scare, put him in the hospital for a week or two, but everything was going to be all right. Then, dimly, he saw Amon making a cut on his hand with a knife, and he felt someone opening his mouth. Amon thrust his hand partially into Tahno’s mouth, forcing it open as wide as it could go, and he didn’t even have the strength left to bite down. He could feel the blood draining down his throat, and gagged, making some of it dribble down his chin. One of the Equalists held his head in position and stroked his throat, forcing him to swallow.

Tahno only felt weaker as this went on. His extremities were cold and numb. His vision had dimmed so much there were only shadows moving against the light. He wanted to throw up, and being forced to swallow Amon’s bitter blood certainly wasn’t helping there. Finally, it stopped, and he felt himself fall to the ground. He lay there, dazed. He wasn’t sure how long. The world seemed to be swaying queasily. _Please let this all be over._

A boot pushed him, rolling him over, and he realized he was being kicked over the edge of the ring. Terror flared anew. He knew he didn’t have the strength left in him to swim out. He reached out blindly, trying to catch something on the floor, the boot of the person kicking him, anything, only scraping his nails on the taut canvas of the ring floor. Another push, and he felt the world give out from under him, a moment of freefall, then the hard slap of the water’s surface, knocking the wind out of him. In his panic, he gasped, drawing in only water, and realizing that this was really it, if he didn’t make it out of the water he was going to die right here. He swung his arm out, and the water responded, forming a weak wave that didn’t do much of anything, before Tahno lost awareness. That was the last time he used his bending.

-

_This has got to be the worst hangover ever._

Tahno opened his eyes, sticky and blurry, and blinked hard a few times. Everything hurt. He was so hungry he thought he might faint. The bright electric lights were giving him a headache.

Blearily, he took in his surroundings. A jail cell. Must’ve been a wild night.

He realized there was somebody standing on the other side of the bars. He convinced his eyes to focus. He knew her from the newspapers. The police chief. Tahno tried to sit up, quickly regretting it. “What’s the big idea, Chief?” he said. “I do something wrong?”

“No,” she said. “We’re just holding you for observation.”

Fragments of the previous night started coming back to him. Amon had attacked him. He put his hand to the bite on his neck. It still hurt. “Wouldn’t a hospital be better for that?”

“This is more appropriate,” the chief said. “In a hospital you could be a danger to others.”

He heard her words, but he couldn’t quite understand the meaning. “Hey, Chief, do you think I could get a blanket at least? I’m cold,” he said.

Her expression was pitying. “It wouldn’t help you much,” she said. He stared at her face, his jaw slack. No one had ever looked at him that way before. Like some unfortunate. Like a victim. His eyes slid involuntarily down to her neck, and he felt the ache in him throb. _Hungry_. He could smell her, even from ten feet away. That seemed strange, but he didn’t mind. She had a nice fragrance.

With his hand still on his neck, he felt for a pulse. Seconds passed, and he moved it, trying to find a better spot. Tears pricked at his eyes. “That bastard killed me, didn’t he?”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “By the time we got you out of the water it was too late. We thought you might wake up, so we brought you in for observation.”

“Shaozu and Ming?”

“The same. They haven’t woken up yet. I was just going to check on them.”

Tahno nodded weakly. The chief, after another guilty glance in his direction, walked away. Tahno lay there, the information sinking in. With difficulty, he got up, and stared at the toilet. He tried a simple waterbending move on the water, and nothing happened. Of course. Only the living were in tune with the natural world enough to bend. He was an abomination, his chi stagnant. And he was _so_ hungry.

He must’ve been left alone in his cell a few hours, long enough to stew in his situation and go nearly out of his mind. He went to the bars and shouted a few times, demanding to know what crime he’d committed, but no one answered him.

Finally, the chief returned. He could barely stand to look at her. He knew what he wanted to do with her now, and it sickened him.

“Listen up, kid,” she said. “Being a vampire is not actually a crime in Republic City, but almost everything associated with it is. You bite anyone non-consensually, that’s assault. If you kill anyone, that’s murder, and no one will care how hungry you were. There are government programs and charities you can apply to for blood. The waiting lists are long, so you’d better get applying if you want to survive. The only neighborhood you’re allowed to live in is the Dragon Flats district. This is to protect the citizens. You’ll be permitted to get your things from your apartment, of course. And under no circumstances are you to turn anyone, do you hear me? That’s illegal under any condition, and one of the only crimes in Republic City punishable by death. You turn someone, I will personally stake your ass. Do you understand?”

Tahno laughed bitterly. “Where were you when it was done to me, then?”

To his surprise, there was guilt in the chief’s eyes. “I’m sorry for what happened to you. Amon will pay.”

Tahno wanted to see Amon staked and gone more than anything, yet somehow these words didn’t comfort him much. “Good luck with that. Don’t end up like me,” he said.

The chief reached in a cooler, and pushed a glass jar through the bars. He picked it up. He didn’t have to ask what the dark red liquid in it was. Something pricked in his mouth, and he ran a finger over his teeth cautiously. Fangs.

“To tide you over,” the chief said. “Wouldn’t want you going berserk and killing someone on your first day.”

Tahno opened the bottle and drank. It was cold, which he found repulsive, but he was hungry enough to choke it down anyway. There was an unpleasant, chemically sort of taste to it, which he would later learn was due to anticoagulants. Overall, he found it to be an underwhelming experience, considering how much his body had been clamoring for the stuff. Yet when it was gone, he felt a lurch in his stomach, the yawning emptiness in him not close to filled. “Is there more?” he asked.

“Sorry, kid, you’re lucky to get that. Blood’s always in short supply. I had to pull strings to get you anything.”

Tahno nodded weakly. “Thanks, then,” he said. “Can…can I go now?”

“In a little while. We’ve got some paperwork for you to sign.”

“Great. Paperwork.”

“Basically it just promises that you’ll abide by the rules of this city and won’t hurt anyone.”

Tahno couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of this.

“You think the laws of this city are funny?”

“I think it’s pretty funny that you think my signature is going to be the difference between killing someone and not,” he said. “Or even the _idea_ of me killing someone. What Amon did to me….” He shuddered. “It was awful. And disgusting. I’d never hurt anyone like that.” His voice was starting to break. “I’d never make anyone feel so afraid.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” the chief said, looking at him with approval. “Try to get those fangs in, though, I’m not opening the door with them out.”

Tahno ran his tongue over his fangs, and willed them to retract. They didn’t, and the air was still heady with the opened bottle of blood and the police chief’s scent. “Sorry,” he muttered, embarrassed. “I can’t seem to get them to go back.”

“I’ll be back in a few minutes, you can work on it,” the chief said. “Pass that bottle back to me.” Tahno did so. “Your friends are awake, by the way,” she said.

“Oh,” Tahno said, not sure how he felt about that. So they were going through the same hell he was. “How are they doing?”

“About as well as can be expected.”

“Can I see them?”

“I’m sure you’ll be running into them a lot.”

Tahno nodded. They’d all have to live in Dragon Flats, and probably end up on the same government programs.

The chief left, and Tahno did manage to retract his fangs before she got back, a small victory that he couldn’t seem to muster much excitement over. She brought paperwork, most of which he signed without really reading, and then he was allowed out of the cell and brought to another room where he gave his report of what happened. Finally, he signed a different paper giving the terms of his release, listened to a few more lectures, and was taken to the front desk to receive his personal effects.

He was already wearing the clothes he’d worn to the match, but the police returned to him his shoes and wallet, and gave him his share of the championship pot. “You may not have won it fairly, but you’ll be needing it,” the chief said. “There are places in Dragon Flats where you can buy blood if you get desperate. They’re technically illegal, but we turn a blind eye as long as no one’s being forced into anything. Better to end up there than to assault someone, got it?”

Tahno nodded numbly. “Yeah.”

The cops escorted him to the door, and as the big metal door opened, Tahno was struck by something unexpected.

 _Sunlight_.

He hadn’t even realized it was the middle of the day, in that windowless place.

It hit him, bright and sharp, and he backed into the corridor, looking at the outdoors mistrustfully. “Come on,” the officer said, “it won’t kill you.”

Tahno took a few tentative steps forward. The light felt unpleasant on his skin, and he had to squint to see anything. Even with just one eye cracked open, everything looked washed out, and he could hardly make anything out. “Can I just call a cab?” he asked, stepping back into the shadowed corridor.

The officer sighed. “Fine, phone’s over there. There’s a phone book next to it.”

“Thanks,” Tahno said, going to the phone. He could hardly see the page, with the spots swirling in front of his eyes from the sun. He blinked hard a few times, and managed to pick out a number and tell the operator to send a cab to the police station. They made him wait outside, and he pulled his jacket over his head, for once not giving a shit how he looked. People passed by in front of him, and he could smell every one. He tried just not breathing, which did cut down on the scents considerably, but felt much too unsettling.

He didn’t think he’d ever been more miserable, or felt more abandoned.

Finally, the cab rolled up in front of him, and he climbed in and gave his address. The relief at being off the street and into the relative shade of the Satomobile was short-lived, however. The cab driver’s scent overwhelmed him in the confined space, and even holding his breath didn’t seem to do much, as though the scent had already soaked into his lungs and filled his nasal passages.

The cab driver was a middle-aged man, squat and hairy and not anywhere near what he’d have considered attractive. He’d always somehow assumed that vampire hunger was sex-like in a way, that vampires only lusted after pretty young things, but he was finding that very much not true. It seemed anything with a pulse would do. _It’s like me when I’m drunk,_ he thought wryly. He couldn’t stop thinking about biting the cab driver, and felt his fangs unsheathe. He kept his lips tightly closed, so as not to alarm the driver, and willed himself to just hold still. That was all he needed to do—nothing. Just until he got home.

He could _hear_ the driver’s blood in his veins now, and the heavy scent in the air was maddening. His hands were shaking with the effort of just doing _nothing_. “Pull over,” he choked out. “Pull over here.”

“But we’re almost there,” the driver said, confused.

“I know. Just pull over here. Please.” He shoved a bill forward, dropping it before the driver could touch his hand, and opened the door and collapsed out of the Satomobile while it was still in motion. Back in the sun, he pulled his jacket over his head, and managed to stumble into the shade of a building and sat down on the sidewalk. He was lightheaded with hunger, and felt faint again. How could he be this hungry so soon after the blood he’d gotten at the police station? How much did he even _need_? He realized, with a sick feeling, that if it hadn’t been for that blood, it surely would have been worse, and he really might have hurt that cab driver. He started crying at the thought of that. Maybe he’d never been a _nice_ person, but he wasn’t a complete monster. He wouldn’t let Amon make him into that.

 _Equal my ass_ , he thought bitterly. _How is it equal when some people are eating others?_ Amon’s sick rhetoric swam through his mind—the living elite, holding vampires under their thumb by refusing them blood, the basics of life, keeping them corralled in the Dragon Flats ghetto. _Like anyone owes us blood. It’s their bodies, they don’t have to do shit with them if they don’t want to._ He’d never donated blood, for sure. It had never seemed like his problem, besides, he needed to keep his strength up as an athlete. He couldn’t afford to take time off.

He wiped at his face with the back of his hand, and noted that his hand came away bloody. _Great. So I’ve been walking around with blood all over my face. Nice of the cops to mention that._ He hadn’t even known that his tears would be red. No one fucking told him anything.

“Hey, Mister,” someone said, and Tahno glanced up. He still couldn’t see very well in the daylight, but from the size and scent as well as the voice, he guessed street kid. “You all right?” the kid asked.

“ _Fine,_ ” Tahno snarled. “Go away.” He lifted his head up enough that the kid could see his face, and he saw the kid jump back. He must be a real sight now. He wondered if the rumor about mirrors was true. He couldn’t imagine never seeing his own face again, but in a way, it seemed almost like that’d be a blessing. He didn’t want to see it like this.

Realizing that he needed to get home before he attracted more attention, Tahno adjusted the jacket on his head and soldiered onward. It was just a few more blocks to his apartment. He moved slowly, and gave people a wide berth. It seemed a close thing between making it and collapsing, but finally, his own door was in front of him, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He’d thought he’d never see it again. Yet as he opened the door into his apartment, he got a chill. This wasn’t really his home anymore. He wasn’t even the person he’d been when he’d last left.

He draped blankets over the windows, trying to block out enough sun to make himself comfortable, and turned the heater on to the highest setting. Then he just lay on his bed and cried. He’d always felt safe here, but that was in some distant, better world. He found himself reliving the terror in the ring, feeling Amon’s cruel mouth on him, draining the last of his life. He tossed in the bed, trying to escape the thoughts, trying to find some kind of temporary peace.

There was a knock on the door, and he opened his eyes reluctantly. _Go the fuck away,_ he thought, but it came again, more insistent, and Tahno opened it, not bothering to clean off his face. It was his landlord.

“Look, Tahno, I heard about what happened to you…you can’t stay here,” he said.

“I _know_ that,” Tahno spat. “The police told me I could come here and collect some of my things.”

The landlord peered in at the darkened rooms. “Doesn’t look like you’re doing much packing.”

“Well, I’m hardly going to go tromping about in the daylight, am I?” he spat. “I can’t really go anywhere until tonight.”

“Fine. I want you cleared out of here by morning, though.”

“Yes, yes, fine,” Tahno said, and slammed the door in his face. He was shaking again, with fear and frustration. A large part of him wanted to open the door again and just _eat_ his landlord. That’d show him, for being—no, no, no. He was better than that, dammit. He wasn’t better than many things, but he was better than _that_.

He went to the bathroom to wash his face. The mirror did reflect him after all. So much for that urban legend. He found a sheet to drape over it, not wanting to look at himself, and started washing. The water ran over his hands like it wanted no part of him. He didn’t really blame it, but it still hurt. He had the thought, _this is my life now,_ and felt fresh tears coming faster than he could wash them away. _You have to stop,_ he told himself. _This is probably why you’re so damn hungry. Stop wasting blood._ He tried licking the tears off his fingers, but whatever changes it had undergone in his body, it didn’t do much for him.

When he’d managed to staunch the flow, he looked for something to dry off on. He never really kept towels around, seeing as he didn’t need them. He wiped his face on the sheet he’d draped over the mirror, and apparently he hadn’t done a very good job washing, because it left a bloody smear. _Disgusting_. He went back to the bed and lay down again.

The heater was starting to work, and he didn’t feel so cold anymore. That helped the hunger slightly. He was only as warm as the room, but the room was sweltering, and it made him feel almost human.

He curled up in a ball, and managed to sleep a few hours.

When he woke, it was dark out. That made him more comfortable right away, and he did feel slightly better for the sleep, though he was as hungry as ever, and still had a dizzy spell when he got up. He found he didn’t even need to turn the light on to go through his things, and his eyes seemed to work better in the dark anyhow. He packed a bag with warm clothes and any valuables he thought he could sell, and bundled himself up in layers.

Tahno spared a mournful look for all the stuff he was leaving behind. He didn’t have time to do anything with it, and it wasn’t like he had a place to bring it, even if he could hire movers at this hour. He shouldered his bag, noting how light it seemed despite how much he thought it should weigh. He’d been able to move fairly quickly while packing it, too. It seemed _some_ of the urban legends about vampires weren’t complete bullshit.

He walked to Dragon Flats. It wasn’t a short walk by any means, but it wasn’t like any public transport ran at this hour, and he wasn’t getting a cab again. The streets were mostly empty, and he felt stronger than he had under the sun. He looked through some of the paperwork the cops had given him, and showed up at the address to apply for services. It was closed. The hours were posted on the door. They were only open during daylight hours. _Nice_ , he thought bitterly. _Real nice._

There was another address indicated on the paperwork, a motel that took vampires. He went there, but they had no vacant rooms. Frustrated, he turned back out onto the streets. Where exactly was he supposed to go? He didn’t want to be stuck outside all day.

While in Dragon Flats, he noticed other people going about their business in the darkened streets, and found he could tell the difference between humans and vampires fairly easily. Most of it was scent. The humans smelled wonderful, the vampires, not so much. But there was also the guardedness the humans had, the way many of them carried weapons or bending flasks.

He never asked anyone for directions, even when he got lost. The humans didn’t look like they wanted to talk to him, and he didn’t like the look of the vampires at all.

Eventually, he headed back to the government building, ducking into the alley on the west side of it, so it would at least be shaded when the sun came up. He felt the weakness come over him anyway when dawn came around, and waited a few hours for the office to open.

Inside wasn’t much better—the building was well-lit, with big windows. There were metalbending police there, and he realized there was something about them he found oppressive—the metal they wore was different. Silver, in the cable spools they carried, and trimming their uniforms. He didn’t know what would happen if the silver touched him, but he knew he didn’t want to find out.

He navigated the maze of lines and paperwork, going where he was told and repeating his story. He didn’t see why he had to explain it so many times, considering the whole event had been broadcast live on the radio with hundreds of witnesses. Finally, he was told he was put on a waiting list, and something in him snapped.

“How long is the wait?” he demanded.

“Usually about six months,” the clerk said. “Could be eight. I don’t want to promise anything.”

“Six to eight _months_?” Tahno repeated incredulously. “What exactly am I supposed to do until then?”

“Just hold tight.”

“Hold tight? Hold _tight_?” he repeated. He realized he was shouting, and didn’t care. “Why don’t you hold tight without _food_ for six months? Don’t you people realize that feeding people like me is in the best interests of the city? I don’t _want_ to hurt anyone, but you’re not giving me much of a choice, are you?”

The cops were moving in closer. “Please don’t threaten me, sir,” the clerk said.

“I wasn’t _threatening_ you, I was stating a fact,” Tahno said.

“Well, the _fact_ is, sir, that we’re working with limited resources here. Most of the city’s resources are put into looking after the living. I mean,” he said with a bit of a laugh, “you’re hardly going to get any deader, are you?”

“Yes, in fact, I _could_ get ‘deader,’” Tahno said. “That’s—this is just an invitation to kill myself, isn’t it? Is that how you clear people off your waiting list? Just drive them to suicide?”

“Of course not, sir, we would never—”

“Because you’re basically telling me to drop dead, you have to know that. I can’t last six months on _nothing_ , and you know it. Do you expect me to value your life above mine, under those circumstances?” he asked, leaning in over the desk. He didn’t know exactly what he was doing—he’d sworn he wouldn’t attack anyone, of course, but he was so angry and so hungry and maybe if he just _scared_ the stingy little bastard…. He felt his fangs extend.

Suddenly, Tahno cried out. Something snaked up his wrists, ripping his sleeves and pulling his arms behind his back cruelly, burning his skin. _Of course. The cops._ He was pulled to the floor, writhing in pain. He couldn’t get away from the silver biting into his skin. The feeling of complete helplessness was altogether too much like what the Equalists had done to him, and he felt himself start to panic.

“What should we do with him?” one of the cops said. “Put him in a cell to cool off?”

“They’re all full. Just get him out of here.”

Tahno was unceremoniously dragged through the building, and dumped on the stairs outside in full sun. He closed his eyes, wincing, and felt the burns snaking up and down his arms. The sun only made them sting more, and he didn’t seem to be healing all that quickly, which he suspected was due to the lack of blood in him.

_Maybe I should just die. I don’t know why I’m fighting so hard. My life is over anyway._

Miserably, he crawled into the shade, and recovered enough of his strength to pull his ripped shirt off and get another out of his pack. Pulling his jacket over his head again, he looked for the shadiest place he could find, and found a park with good tree cover. The nice, shady bit wasn’t too far from a sunny field, and though he couldn’t see the children playing in the absolute whiteout that was the light of day, he could hear them and smell them. He felt terribly sorry for the human families that were unlucky enough to live in Dragon Flats. It was the cheapest neighborhood in Republic City, for good reason. Most people born here would never make enough money to be able to leave, and even those who did had a sort of fierce survivors’ pride about it. He’d known about that, and he’d met a few benders from Dragon Flats in his pro-bending career.

He’d never really thought to feel sorry for the vampires, though.

The day passed slowly, painfully. When night finally fell, he went to the motel again. Still no vacancies. He asked where he could find other housing, and was told he had to get a paper, though the newsstands were only open in the day. “Daytime’s your best bet,” the tough-looking old man behind the silver chain-link fence told him, “no one wants to deal with your kind at night.”

He wanted to ask where he could find blood on the black market, too, but knowing it was illegal, hesitated.

“You’ll want to be careful,” the man told him. “You’re not supposed to be out and about at all at this hour. Councilman Tarrlok’s passed a curfew on vampires.”

“A _curfew_?” Tahno repeated incredulously. “But I can barely do _anything_ in the day.”

“Well, that’s the point. Your kind have a natural advantage at night. I wouldn’t even be open for business if it weren’t for this,” he said, touching the silver cage around his desk.

“I wouldn’t hurt you,” Tahno said, injured. He was fighting off thoughts of how much he _wanted_ to, but this was becoming a steady chorus in his head, and he was getting slightly better at ignoring it.

“You’re hungry, though,” the man said. “I can see it in your eyes. You’re getting desperate. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Tahno admitted reluctantly.

“You’re not really in control of yourself, then. _You_ wouldn’t hurt me, but you’re not exactly yourself right now.”

Tahno grit his teeth. _It’s not true. I won’t let it be._ “Do you know any…places…where people like me can buy….”

“Sorry, kid, I don’t really keep track of that stuff. You might want to ask another vampire.”

“Right,” Tahno said. He turned and left, not really knowing where he was going. He saw a commotion with a protest to the curfew, and some cops responding to it, and stayed well away from that. The last thing he wanted was the touch of silver again. His wounds were still raw and oozing from the last time. Still, he wondered if he managed to get himself arrested, if they’d feed him again. The very possibility almost made him run up to the cops and surrender himself. He thought of the chief of police quite warmly then, the only person who’d showed him any kind of grudging kindness since this nightmare had started. And even with her, he’d been able to tell by the way she looked at him that she didn’t like vampires. She just felt responsible in his case.

The blood hadn’t even been _good_. But right now, he’d do anything for it. The desperateness of that thought struck him. _Anything_.

He saw someone coming away from the riot, and the first thing he sensed was _human_. He backed into the shadows, hoping they would just pass him by, hoping he would let them. He could feel his fangs extend just at their proximity. But the human stopped in front of him, staring at him. And there was something else he smelled, some kind of animal.

“What, do I have something on my face?” he spat, looking at the person. _The Avatar. What the hell is she doing out here?_

“ _Tahno_? Is that you?” She got off her great beast, taking a step towards him.

“Do I look that different?”

“Yeah, actually. Your eyes…” she said, reaching towards him.

He backed away further as though her touch could burn him. “Don’t come near me,” he hissed.

“Why?”

He laughed, near tears. He didn’t even know if he had anything left to cry, physically. “Do I even need to answer that? Are you just that dense? You know what Amon did to me.”

“Yeah,” the Avatar said. “Look, I know we weren’t exactly friends, but…I’m sorry about that.”

“Great, thanks,” he said. “Now please, _go away_ , for your good and mine.”

The Avatar looked at him petulantly. “You don’t look so hot. Why are you trying to get rid of me? Are you hiding something?”

Tahno grimaced, baring his fangs. “No, I’m not _hiding_ anything, you twit,” he said, his voice starting to tremble. “Since you apparently need this spelled out, I am in the process of starving to death, and I want to bite you very much right now, so please, go before I try to do that and you burn my face off or something, because I have enough problems without that.”

“So bite me, then,” Korra said.

Tahno’s eyes widened. “Don’t—don’t joke.”

“I’m not joking,” she said. She pulled the leather brace off one of her arms, and held it out towards him. “Come on. You look terrible. I can spare a little blood.”

He was shaking badly now. It took every ounce of his will to not be on that wrist right that instant. “I…I don’t know if I can stop myself, Korra.”

“I’ll stop you when you’re done. Come on, get it over with.”

He knelt in front of her, taking her hand reverently. The scent of her was overpowering this close; he wasn’t in control anymore. He licked her wrist and quickly drove his fangs in. The moment the skin broke he felt a burst of pleasure unlike anything else. Her blood spilled into his mouth, so _warm_ and it seemed meant for him, wringing out ecstasy from every cell. He sucked at her wrist, gripping her arm, feeling he couldn’t get her inside him fast enough, wishing he could bite somewhere with stronger bloodflow—

He felt Korra’s fingers in his hair, pulling him away, and at first he reacted purely on instinct, resisting and gripping her harder. Her strength was no match for his. But she tugged at his hair more insistently and he became aware that she’d been saying something. Probably telling him to stop. _Fuck_. “Sorry,” he said, releasing her and crumpling forward on the ground at her feet. “I didn’t mean to…sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Korra said. She pressed a handkerchief to the wound, and put her leather brace back on over it. _Smart_ , he thought. _It’ll keep pressure on it._

“Did I hurt you?” he asked. He remembered how much it had hurt when Amon bit him.

“Not much. It’s fine. Getting hit in the ring hurts more.”

He thought of some of the tricks he’d played on her in the ring—hitting her in the head with rocks, for one. “Sorry,” he said again miserably. “And thank you, for…that.” He wasn’t anywhere near sated, but he could feel a warm glow in him, and it didn’t _hurt_ so damn much. Miraculously, the wounds on his arms seemed mostly healed. And there was one other…side-effect. He found that he had quite an erection. He shifted, hoping to hide it from her. _It isn’t even like that_ , he thought, _it just felt so good._

“Do you have someplace to go?” she asked.

“No,” he admitted. “I can’t find anywhere.”

“You should come back with me. I’m sure we can find you a nice room somewhere with no windows.”

If he weren’t already on the ground, Tahno would have gotten weak in the knees at the prospect of a place to spend the day out of the sun. “But you can’t…it’s illegal for me to stay anywhere outside Dragon Flats,” he said.

“Well, maybe the laws are stupid then,” Korra said. “Like this curfew. Ugh, I could just punch that Tarrlok.” He could hear the rage in her voice. “He just arrested my friends for collaboration with Hiroshi Sato. Apparently it’s illegal to be _related_ to a vampire now, or friends with anyone who is.”

“I see,” Tahno said. That was a pretty good reason for her to leave him here.

“So come on, get up,” she said. “Let’s go.”

“What, you’re taking me with you, knowing that you could be arrested for collaboration?”

“All the more reason to. Like I’m going to let that Tarrlok tell me what to do. And I’m not just going to leave you to die out here. I’ve failed to help enough people tonight,” she said darkly.

“Thank you,” he said again, hardly able to believe her kindness. _After everything….I guess none of that matters now. Amon is our mutual enemy._

She mounted her polar bear dog. “Get on,” she said, indicating the spot in the saddle behind her. “I’d give you a ride in the Satomobile, but I, uh, crashed it a few blocks back. Lucky Naga followed me out here.”

He stood up carefully, shifting his bag off his back and in front of his crotch. If she noticed that, she didn’t say anything. He took a few slow steps towards the polar bear dog, which regarded him with mistrust, snarling when he got too close. “Easy, Naga, easy,” Korra said, petting it. “I know he smells a bit funny, but Tahno is a friend.” He thought that might be too strong a word.

Tahno let Korra pull him up behind her, and he knew instantly that this was a mistake. The warmth of her hand against his, the closeness of their bodies, the scent wafting off her hair and the back of her neck—he slid back down almost as quickly as he’d gotten there. “I can’t,” he said.

“Why not?”

He shook his head. “I just don’t think I can…ride behind you like that.”

“Okay,” she said, getting off too. “Come on. We’ll walk.”

“Actually, it might be easier if you rode.”

Korra frowned. “Okay, be like that.”

They walked a bit, and the fresh air seemed to clear Tahno’s head. The erection subsided, and his fangs slid back into place. His body began to settle down and accept that it had gotten some blood and should be happy about that, instead of demanding he take _all_ of it. “So,” he said, “when you looked at me before, you said something about my eyes.” He hadn’t gotten a close look at them in the mirror. It’d be a shame if they’d changed color. He’d always really liked the color of his eyes. But it wasn’t like he got to keep _anything_ about himself he’d liked.

“Yeah, they’re kinda…reflective.”

“Oh,” he said. “But still the same color?”

She squinted at him. “Can’t really tell in this light.”

 _This light_. It seemed clear as day to him, in a manner of speaking. “I can see the color of your eyes,” he said.

“What, from all the way over there?”

He nodded.

“You’re stronger than I thought you’d be, too,” she said.

“What would you have done if I hadn’t been able to stop?” he asked. He hated being this strong physically, and so weak where it counted.

“I would have had to burn you, I guess. Vampires don’t like fire, right?”

“I don’t think anyone likes fire when it’s burning them.”

“Right. I wasn’t defenseless,” Korra asserted. “I was just giving you a chance. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“You shouldn’t hesitate,” he said. “Do what you have to, okay?”

“Let’s hope it won’t come to that,” she said.

“You’re the one who’s got to stop Amon,” he said. “Before he does this to anyone else. So I’d never forgive myself if I….”

Korra was silent a few moments. “But I mean, you’re still basically you, right?”

It hurt that she had to ask that. It hurt more that he wasn’t really sure. “I guess,” he said. “I mean, a version of me that is dead and can’t bend and has the compulsion to _kill_ people….” A tear rolled down his face before he could fight it back. _Stop it,_ he commanded himself. _You didn’t get that blood so you could weep it all out._

“Are you…crying?”

He wiped the tear away. “Sorry. It’s really gross, I know.”

“No, no,” she said. “That actually makes me feel better.”

“I’m glad my misery pleases you.”

“Ugh, I don’t mean _that_ ,” she said. “It’s just…good to know you’re not a remorseless killing machine like Amon. Since I’m inviting you into my home and all.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I’m nothing like that monster. He can do this to my body, but he will _never_ make me like him.”


	2. Chapter 2

Tenzin was a bit less pleased about Korra’s new acquisition, and Tahno shrank back against the wall, waiting for his fate to be decided. They took the discussion into another room, but of course he could hear it perfectly through the walls. He rather wished he couldn’t.

“Korra, I respect your compassion, but I have children in this house to look after,” Tenzin was saying. “Can’t you help him some other way?”

“How, by just leaving him in the gutter to die? Look at the state he’s in. He was even worse off when I found him.”

“Why was he worse? Korra, tell me you didn’t let him….”

“Yeah, why shouldn’t I? I’m strong enough to give a little blood. It doesn’t do me any damage, and probably saved his life.”

“You can’t provide for him all by yourself.”

“I’ll find other people to help, then. Or find places to buy blood, I don’t know.”

“No, you don’t know, Korra, you don’t think these things _through_. You just bring a hungry vampire into a house with children.”

“He’s not going to hurt the kids, Tenzin.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because he’s still…in there. I saw it. I know he was kind of a jerk to begin with, but he isn’t a murderer.”

Tenzin sighed. “I’ve lived in Republic City most of my life,” he said, “and in the council I’ve seen a lot of police reports. Vampires have been an ongoing problem. Oh, they _seem_ nice to your face, they’ll tell you they’d never hurt anyone, and next thing you know there’s a trail of bodies, and they’re in jail crying about how they didn’t _want_ to. You can’t trust them, Korra.”

“Well, maybe if people actually helped them, they wouldn’t be driven to desperation.”

“So it’s the fault of living people? Korra, you sound like Amon.”

“No, I’m not saying that vampires are better than us or that anyone should ever be turned, or whatever other horrible, crazy things Amon says. Just that maybe there _is_ something we can do on our end to make things better on both sides.”

“He can stay in the basement,” Tenzin said at length. “No one else is to know he’s here—if it were known I was harboring a vampire, as a councilman, there would be consequences. And I want the door locked from the outside. He can come out when you’re there to watch him, and I expect you to take full responsibility for everything he does.”

“All right, _Dad_ , I’ll walk him and feed him and everything.” A laugh, and a shift in the floorboards—Tahno thought maybe she hugged Tenzin. They came back into the room with him. “Good news, you can stay,” Korra said.

“Yeah. I know,” Tahno said.

“Oh, you heard all that, huh,” Korra said.

“Couldn’t really help it.”

“So you know about the lock on the door,” Tenzin said. “Are you all right with that?”

“Sounds like a sensible precaution,” Tahno said.

They took him down to the basement. It was dank and unused, but they brought reed mats and a bedroll down for him. Tenzin left, but Korra stayed a few minutes. She talked about what had been going on—the revelation that Hiroshi Sato had been turned to save his life after the Agni Kai attack that killed his wife and left him near death, that he had hidden his condition from everyone, including his own daughter, even gradually dyeing his hair gray to imitate age, and told him that Asami Sato and her two teammates were also staying with her on the island, or had been, until their arrest.

Tahno smiled wryly. “Quite a collection of lost souls you’re gathering,” he said.

“Just people hurt by Amon who want to help me stop him,” she said. “Well, I should go to bed, I’m going with Tenzin to the police station first thing in the morning.”

“One more thing, Korra,” he said.

“Yes?”

“I don’t…really know how this works yet,” he said. “But if I start acting, you know, more like a monster than a person…just consider me already dead, and do the right thing, okay?”

Korra was silent a moment. “Do you want to die, Tahno?”

“If I said yes, would you do it?”

“I…I don’t know. I’d have to hear more of your reasons.”

“I think you already know them.”

“Yeah, but…this is all really new, right? You should give it a chance, to….”

“To what? See if it gets better? It’s _permanent_. Amon killed me. There’s no taking that back. I’ll never be normal again, never bend again, I’ll never even be able to be around _people_ like a normal fucking person.”

“I was going to say, to see if it’s manageable.”

He closed his eyes. “I don’t actually want to die. I want this nightmare to end, I want to wake up in my bed on a nice, sunny day, and just have this whole thing have never happened. But I can’t have that. So I don’t know what I want that I can actually have.” He shuddered involuntarily. He did know _one_ thing he wanted, and she was standing right in the room with him. He couldn’t stop thinking about her blood. _But I don’t want to want that._

“I’d hug you, but that’d just torture you more, wouldn’t it?” she said.

“Yeah,” he said. “Not a good idea. Thanks for the thought, though.”

She walked up the stairs, closed the door, and he heard the click of the lock sliding into place, then something else rattling and clanking. Chains, sounded like. Probably silver. Couldn’t be too careful.

Normally, being locked in somewhere would seem stressful to him, but this time it actually came as a relief. He curled up in the bed, pulling the blanket around himself, and was able to sleep.

-

For a vampire, his internal clock seemed pretty messed up. Sleeping at night, and waking up sometime in the day…. He knew it was day somehow from the almost imperceptible bits of light that made it through the occasional crack in the floorboards and under the door. It wasn’t near enough to bother him, and plenty to see by, and he found himself very glad of the sturdy temple between him and the bright sun. He got up and paced a bit, but he still felt tired and sore, so he lay back down in bed, listening to the sounds of people going about their business above, catching the occasional fragments of conversation, and generally trying not to think too hard about how hungry he was or how his life had all gone so terribly wrong. He wondered how Ming and Shaozu were coping. He hoped they’d found someplace to buy blood with their share of the winnings.

The hours scraped by, almost as slow as they had in jail. Finally, he heard the rattling of the chains being pulled off his door, and the lock being turned, and he saw Korra in the doorway, squinting blindly into what, to her, must have been complete darkness.

“Tahno?”

“Hey, Korra.”

“Oh, there you are. I can just see the glow of your eyes. Hold on a sec.” She stepped away from the doorway a moment, and he thought that if he’d wanted to escape, he could do so easily. Instead, he waited in bed. She returned with a lamp that was so bright he flinched and shielded his eyes.

“Oh, sorry,” Korra said. “Do you need me to put it out?”

“It’s fine. I’ll adjust to it in a moment,” he said. “Only an idiot would go into a dark basement with a hungry vampire.”

She made a little fire with her free hand. “I’ve always got light if I really need it,” she said. She sat down next to him on the bedroll, and he looked away, hyper-aware of her presence, and trying not to be.

“Chief Saikhan wouldn’t let my friends go,” Korra said. “I’m going to have a talk with Tarrlok in person. Maybe I can talk some sense into him.”

“Do you want company?” he asked.

“Sorry, I know you must be bored down here, but that wouldn’t be a good idea. He’d just use my association with you against me, and against Tenzin if he found out you were staying here.”

“All right,” he said. It did make sense. And truth to be told, he still didn’t trust himself outside. He’d caught himself having a fantasy about Korra letting him drink Tarrlok’s blood to intimidate him, even helping hold Tarrlok down. _No. That’s not how it works_ , he told himself sternly.

Korra pulled off her leather brace again, revealing a bandage under it, and Tahno’s fangs extended in anticipation. He’d never imagined the sight of a used bandage could excite him so much. _Really gross, Tahno_ , he told himself. She pulled the bandage off, and though his hunger was not lessened, he was struck by something else, looking at those ugly little holes in her lovely, strong arm.

He took her hand and ran his finger over the wounds. “Your poor arm,” he said. “It’s going to get full of holes.”

“I can take it. You want it, don’t you?”

He wanted it so much he could cry, if he weren’t trying so hard to hold it back. There was a tremor in his chest as if his heart wanted to beat. For an answer, he bent down to kiss her arm, licked the spot, and sunk his teeth in.

It was every bit as good as it had been last time, if slightly less urgent. He closed his eyes, letting her warm blood fill him. He felt like he could just stay here forever, content.

“That’s enough, Tahno,” she said, stroking his head gently.

This time he heard her, and broke away. He was glad of the blanket partially covering him, as it seemed that erections just came with the territory.

“That’s good,” she said. “You’re getting more control.”

“Yes, well, don’t bite the hand that feeds you, in a manner of speaking,” he said. He watched her bandage her arm. “I wish I could do that without putting so many holes in you,” he said. “I’d use the same ones, but I don’t think that’s good for you either.”

“It’s okay,” Korra said. “I can’t seem to heal them with waterbending, but they don’t really hurt very much. I noticed, you always lick before you bite.”

“Oh,” Tahno said. He realized that he did. “It’s just sort of, I don’t know, instinct.” _And it tastes good, and lets me know where to bite._ “If it’s gross, I can stop.”

“Actually, I was doing research on it, and that’s probably why it hurts so little when you do it. There’s an anesthetic on your tongue, or in your saliva or something.”

“Oh,” he said again. “Amon didn’t do that for me. No wonder it hurt like a bitch.”

“I just thought it was neat that you knew to do that.”

 _Neat. Hah._ “I didn’t even really know why I was doing it.”

“That just makes it neater. Here, I cut my finger today,” she said, holding it out. He could see that it was scabbed already. “I could have just healed it, but I wanted to test this. Would you mind?”

He took her finger into his mouth, running his tongue over the cut. His fangs hadn’t retracted yet, and weren’t likely to with him doing _this_ , but he was careful not to cut her on them. _How does she taste so good,_ he wondered to himself. _That cannot possibly be legal._

Her finger slid out of his mouth, and she looked at it, pleased. “It really does work! Thanks, that’s great.”

“Glad to be of service. Let me know if there’s anything else you want licked,” he said.

She punched him in the arm playfully. “Glad to see you’re doing better.”

He was, a bit. He didn’t think he could ever _stop_ being hungry, but it was verging on bearable, or maybe he was just getting used to it, and his arms were completely healed from the silver. The bite mark on his neck, however, was as raw and painful as ever. He wondered if his own saliva would work on it.

“I have to go now, but is there anything you need down here? Should I leave the lamp? I’m sorry, I just left you in the dark all day.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “I wouldn’t use it. The dark feels…better.” It felt strange to even call it _dark_. It was bright light that made it hard to see. “I wouldn’t mind a book, though,” he said.

“What, you can see well enough to read without the lamp?” Korra said dubiously. “Are you having me on?”

“Yeah, I can see fine,” he said. “Actually, if you could manage it, I’d love a heater,” he said. “The dark is great, but it gets cold down here.”

She put her hand on his forehead, and he couldn’t help but lean into it. _Ugh, it really is like when I’m drunk_ , he thought. _Everything she does just feels so nice._ “Well, of course I’m a bit warmer _now_ ,” he said, “considering I just fed.”

“Actually, you’re as cold as ice,” she said. “I can get you some more blankets before I go.”

He shook his head. “Doesn’t seem to help.”

“I see,” she said. “Well, I’ll come back in a moment with some books, anyway, and then I have to go talk to Tarrlok. I’ll come back and tell you how it went.”

“Okay,” he said.

“And I really would love to take you with me sometime. I bet you’d be pretty handy to have around.”

“How so?” he asked. It seemed like she’d have to watch her back for him all the time, and that would be detrimental rather than advantageous.

“Well, you have magic painkilling spit, for one. And you’re probably good in a fight.”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Without my bending….”

“But you’re strong. Scary strong,” she said. “And you can see in pitch darkness, that’s a heck of an advantage.”

“Until I’m completely blinded by the headlights of a Satomobile,” he said. “Or made entirely useless by the sun coming up.”

“We do most of our patrolling at night, anyway. And you’d probably be immune to chi-blocking.”

He hadn’t really thought about that. There wasn’t much of anything left to _take_. He supposed that was sort of like an advantage. “I wonder if their electric gloves would do anything to you,” she said.

“Well, if you find one, by all means test it out on me,” he said. “Better yet, why not just wire a Satomobile battery to my nipples, I’ve been bored and my life isn’t awful enough yet.”

“Sorry,” Korra said. “Well, anyway, see you soon.” She ran out, came back a moment later to give him a book, and left. He heard the lock turn, and the chains clinking over the door.

He looked at the book. _Love Amongst the Dragons_. She probably hadn’t even glanced at the title, and had just grabbed it from one of the girls he’d heard upstairs. Most people would probably laugh at the idea of giving a jock like him a romance novel, but actually, it was one of his favorites, and he must have read it a dozen times before. He put it down next to the bed.

He would read it in a few minutes, but first, that erection had been terribly demanding, and he hadn’t been able to do anything about it with _her_ there. He started stroking it, letting the comforting feeling wash over him. _At least some things haven’t changed._ His mind began to wander in fantasy, but everything he thought of was tinged with pain. His adoring groupies— _no, don’t think about that_. His teammates— _certainly not_ , and he pushed the thought away hard, not wanting to dwell on what they might be feeling now. There wasn’t a single memory of a sexual exploit he’d had that he could look back on happily from where he was now. He’d even loved to use his waterbending in the act, and thinking about that now just made him want to cry again.

The image of Korra came to mind, and he welcomed it. She was beautiful, of course, and what she didn’t know about wouldn’t hurt her. He began to fantasize about what she might look like naked, but the fantasy took a rather undesired turn from there. Instead of making love to her, he found himself biting her, drowning in the taste of her blood. He wanted to stop the fantasy right then and there, but it was actually _working_ , and his body responded eagerly. His fangs, which had retracted around the time Korra had left, sprang back into his mouth. He indulged the fantasy resentfully, and came hard.

Except…. Still reeling in the afterglow, Tahno felt about in his pants for where the semen should be. That had been a hell of an orgasm, but he didn’t feel anything there. He pushed the blankets off and pulled his pants down to examine himself. There was hardly anything there, just a faint trickle of blood from the tip of his cock. Disgusted, he touched the blood and sniffed his finger. It didn’t smell like semen, or exactly like blood either, but it was salty, like his tears had been.

Tahno fell back onto the bed. _So much for some things staying the same._ He wiped his fingers off on his pants, and picked up the book, letting the familiar words comfort him, take him back to a simpler time. He tried not to think about how he was reading it in nearly complete darkness.

 _Some things must stay the same, surely,_ he thought.

-

Korra didn’t come back in a few hours, and Tahno dozed off. She must have been tired, he reasoned. Besides, he’d understand if she didn’t want to come back down here. He’d been called creepy _before_ all this happened.

Morning rolled around, and he dozed through it, until the sound of the chains moving on his door woke him up. He sat up in bed, looking forward to seeing Korra again, but the person who opened the door was very much not Korra. He recognized her firebending teammate, Mako, with a plume of fire in each hand, lighting up the whole room. _Oh_ , he thought blearily, _I guess talking to Tarrlok must have worked. Good for her._

Mako stormed across the room, making Tahno look away from the light. Putting out the fire in one hand, he grabbed the front of Tahno’s shirt, and held him against the wall, a fistful of fire held ready to strike. “What did you do with her, you sniveling little turd,” he snarled.

“What?” Tahno said blankly, giving the flame in Mako’s hand a worried look. “What’s this about?”

“Don’t give me that, you _know_ what this is about. What did you do with Korra?”

“Do with her? She came down last night and we talked.” Behind Mako, he could see the other Fire Ferret, Councilman Tenzin, a girl he guessed was the Sato heiress, and Chief Beifong—no, ex-Chief, he remembered Korra had told him—searching the room with bright lamps. “You must’ve seen her last, she went to try to get you out of jail,” he said.

“I got them out of jail,” Beifong said. “Korra was down here last night? What exactly did you do?”

“Like I said, we talked,” Tahno said.

“ _Just_ talked?” Mako said. “I find that unlikely.”

Tahno sighed. “Fine, yes, she fed me a little too,” he said, knowing that looked bad, and seeing Mako’s features harden. “It was on the level though, I swear,” he said. “She left here fine. What could I have done, anyway? I’ve been locked in a basement this whole time.”

“Is he telling the truth?” Tenzin asked Beifong.

“How should I know?” Beifong said. “I can’t read vampires. No pulse.” Her eyes narrowed. “But when it comes to missing people, they’re usually lying.”

Mako brought the flame to Tahno’s face, and Tahno began to tremble. “Wait,” Tenzin said. “Naga is gone too. That doesn’t fit with a vampire’s M.O.” He turned to Tahno. “Did she say where she was going?”

“ _Yes_ , and I’d be happy to tell you if you’d kindly stop singing my hair off,” he said, and Mako released him roughly. “Thank you,” Tahno said, touching his hair. “I have no idea if this will grow back.”

“Tell us where she went,” Mako said.

“She went to see Tarrlok, to get him to release you,” he said.

“Tarrlok,” Tenzin repeated.

“You believe him?” Mako said, looking at Tahno with disgust.

“He does have a point,” Tenzin said. “He was locked in here all day. And there isn’t any sign of damage anywhere. I don’t see how he could have gotten out.”

They turned to leave. “Wait,” Tahno said, and they all looked back at him, their glares seeming to cut through him.

“You remember something else you did to her?” Mako said, sneering.

“No, I…I want to help.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Tenzin said. “You should stay right here where you’re safe.”

“But I can track her,” he insisted. “None of you have a nose like mine.”

“It’s broad daylight,” Beifong said.

“I don’t care,” Tahno said. “Since Amon did this to me, Korra’s been the only person who actually cared what happened to me. If she needs my help now, I’ll do whatever I can.”

“What do you think?” Tenzin asked Beifong dubiously.

“He’s not kidding about that nose,” Beifong said. “It may be our best hope of finding her.”

Tenzin nodded, and Tahno came along with them. He stumbled as he got outside, blinded by the daylight. They got into a Satomobile, the Sato girl driving. He didn’t fail to notice that it was rather crowded, and took the seat by the door so at least he wouldn’t have anyone pressing on him on _one_ side. On the other side, he had Mako, and awkwardly tried not to breathe in his scent or listen to the blood in his veins too much.

It was rather humiliating, actually, to be near someone who completely hated him, whom he rather hated in return, and still _want_ his body in a visceral way.

“Mako, put your scarf over his eyes,” the Sato girl said.

“What? I’m not giving him my scarf. You…you know why.”

“Do you want to find Korra or not?” she said.

Mako groaned. “Do _not_ get anything on this, okay?” Tahno felt the silk wrap around his face, and relaxed slightly at the reduction of light, though the thing was absolutely _steeped_ in Mako’s scent.

“Do you ever wash this thing?” Tahno said. “It reeks of your sweat.” _Reeks_ wasn’t exactly the word he was thinking, but it wouldn’t do to let the bastard know he liked it a little too much.

“He doesn’t let me do it with the laundry,” Bolin said.

“Fantastic,” Tahno said. “My nose might just commit suicide before we get there.”

“So give me my scarf back,” Mako said.

Tahno put his hands over the scarf. “Nope, still better than the sunlight.”

“We didn’t bring you for your _eyes_ , though,” Mako said. “I don’t really care if the sun burns them out. Will you be able to track her or not?”

“Yes, yes, it was just a joke,” Tahno said. “I see you were waiting on the wrong line the day they were handing out a sense of humor.”

“Yeah, I was on the line for how not to be a dick.”

“They must have run out before it was your turn. What a shame.”

“Stop bickering like little children,” Beifong said. “This is serious. If the Avatar has been kidnapped by a Councilman….”

“I know,” Mako said, sobering.

They drove on mostly in silence, Tahno only occasionally squirming uncomfortably from the sun on his skin and his proximity to Mako. He could feel the heat of Mako’s leg now through his pants, and it was getting incredibly distracting. When the Satomobile stopped, he was the first one out.

Of course, he couldn’t actually see where he was going, and startled slightly when someone took his hand. He took a breath to see who it was. “Thank you, Miss Sato,” he said.

“Asami is fine,” she replied.

She guided him along the sidewalk, and told him when to step as they climbed the stairs. “My father hid his vampirism from me for years,” she said, “but when I look back now, I can see the signs. He went out in sunlight enough times, to allay suspicion, but there were these little moments when he’d seem disoriented, or trip…. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”

“Well, if his experience of daylight is anything like mine, I’m impressed,” Tahno said. “I don’t think I could fake it.”

“My father is a very self-possessed man,” she said. “I…I don’t even know what to think. Of course I’m against Amon’s agenda and what he did to you. But knowing him so intimately…I also know he wasn’t a monster just because he was a vampire.”

“So you don’t think I’m a monster, Asami?”

“I think any human can be a monster if they choose to be. Vampires are no different.”

“Heh,” Tahno said. He didn’t think he could buy that. Whatever he’d been before, he’d never been at risk of choosing to _eat_ someone. Let alone thinking about biting someone like this very nice young lady who was helping him. He could feel her pulse in her palm. He really wasn’t at all picky, but he quite liked her, more than usual, and he knew that made him dangerous to her. “Maybe you should tell your boyfriend that,” he said.

“He’s had very different experiences with vampires on the streets,” Asami said. “I can’t really say his experiences are wrong either.”

They entered the building, and Tahno heard Tenzin confronting Tarrlok, and Tarrlok denying it in front of the other councilmembers. He took a few deep breaths, navigating around the overwhelming scent of Mako’s scarf and the lovely girl next to him, and stiffened.

“He’s lying,” Tahno said suddenly. “I can smell her all over him.”

“What?” Mako demanded.

“What’s this, then?” Tarrlok said. “Your little vampire friend here must be mistaken. He’s probably picking the scent up off one of you, you’ve all spent time with her.”

“No, I’m sure of it,” Tahno said, stepping forward. “It’s all over you.”

“Well, yes, the Avatar did come in to _talk_ , but she left perfectly fine—”

“She was afraid,” Tahno said. “He…he reeks of her fear.” Once again, _reeks_ was a word he’d selected to save face, rather than admit to finding the scent of Korra’s fear disturbingly arousing, at the same time as what it might mean chilled him. He pushed the thought aside. He was a vampire, he was programmed to like fear a little too much. It didn’t mean anything.

“Surely you’re not going to take this _vampire’s_ word over mine,” Tarrlok said to the rest of the council. “You know their kind aren’t very trustworthy. And look at him, hand-in-hand with the daughter of that Sato traitor. Why is he even out and about outside of Dragon Flats?”

“I have to get my exercise before curfew, don’t I?” Tahno said bitterly. “And I think I can prove it.” He stumbled forward, following his nose, Asami doing her best to guide him. The trail led him to Tarrlok’s office.

“That’s private,” Tarrlok said. “You’ve had your joke, but that’s enough of this nonsense.”

He came to Tarrlok’s desk, and tore open one of the drawers, pulling out some kind of fabric. “What is this?” he asked.

“Some kind of tapestry. It matches some of the other wall hangings,” Asami said.

Tahno uncrumpled it, finding the source of the scent. “I can’t see that, but that’s a bloodstain, isn’t it?” he said. He could hear their gasps. He licked the tapestry. “That’s definitely Korra’s blood,” he said, and found he was shaking with rage. “What did you _do_ to her?”

For a moment, everything was silent, and then Tahno felt a sharp, terrible pain, and heard the sound of bodies hitting the ground. Whatever the hell _that_ was, it apparently hadn’t done to him what it did to everyone else. He lunged forward through the pain, grabbing Tarrlok in a bruising grip.

“So you’re not quite like the others,” Tarrlok said, “But you’ve still got blood in you, don’t you?” The pain came again, and an unseen force hurled him against the wall. He heard Tarrlok flee, and couldn’t get up in time to take chase.

He tried to go after him, and tripped on one of the prone bodies. He scrambled backwards blindly. It seemed like there were bodies everywhere. Helpless, limp bodies. He didn’t need to examine them closely to know that they were alive, just unconscious. For a moment, he had the terrible thought that no matter what he did, they would somehow blame him for what happened, or think he’d taken advantage.

And oh, it was _tempting_. For a moment, he thought they might not even notice, or at least wouldn’t care in light of everything else going on. The worst they could do was arrest him, anyway, and somehow being in jail cell didn’t seem much worse than his current situation was. Besides, they’d expect it of him, a vampire and an opportunistic cheater—they’d think he’d done it even if he didn’t. And it wasn’t like he’d really hurt anyone. He’d only take a little from each of them.

But if he did that, they wouldn’t let him help find Korra, and she needed him right now. He backed up until he felt a wall behind him, slid down it, and waited.

-

“So Tarrlok was a bloodbender.” He could hear the conversation around him, but stayed still, out of the way. Someone approached him—he could hear the clicking of the metal uniform, and smell Beifong’s fragrance. He heard her take a seat next to him.

“You were the first one up, weren’t you?” she said.

“Actually, it didn’t knock me out,” Tahno said. “I tried to chase him, but he threw me back.” He was still cursing himself for it. There _had_ to have been more he could have done.

“Can you still track him?”

“He drove off. Even _I’m_ not that good. He’s probably miles away by now.”

Beifong sighed. “Well, good job, anyway.”

“I didn’t catch him,” Tahno said, “and I didn’t find Korra.”

“There’s something else you didn’t do,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He stiffened at the contact.

“You might not want to do that,” he muttered.

“I think if you were going to attack me, you’d have done it while I was unconscious.”

“Don’t be absurd, I couldn’t have,” Tahno said. “I signed a form, remember?”

Beifong laughed bitterly. “I know the procedure is a joke. It doesn’t work. I see the crime rates for vampires. And the crime rate for hungry, new vampires in a room full of unconscious humans has to be damn near a hundred percent.”

“I don’t deserve a pat on the back for managing not to assault unconscious people,” Tahno said.

“Well, that’s the right attitude to have,” she said. “Funny, I didn’t take you for the type to have a strong moral compass.”

“Me neither,” he said. “I’m not really cut out for this.” He pulled her hand off him and dropped it like it burned. “And seriously, don’t touch me.”

“Fine,” she snapped, “Play the cool guy. Are you ready to help find Korra again?”

“What can I do?”

“Best I can think of is for us to drive around, and you can try to pick up either Tarrlok or Korra’s scent.”

“It’s a big city, and it’s not like I can really pick out the smell of one person driving in a Satomobile amidst all the other traffic.”

“You’re still the best lead we’ve got. If they’ve stopped anywhere, you’ll pick it up, right?”

“Maybe,” he said. Sniffing around at Tarrlok’s office had been one thing, but driving around aimlessly in a crowded Satomobile, through an even more crowded city, taking deep breaths….

_“Would it help you if you fed first?” Beifong asked._

_“It would help a lot,” he said. “But you’re not with the police anymore, you won’t have access to blood….”_

_He heard the click of her armor opening. “I have plenty of blood right here.”_

_She took his hand, and led him into a secluded room. He felt her wrist against his mouth and bit down, letting the warm blood spill into him—_

“Can you handle it?” Beifong was saying. Tahno tried to shake off the fantasy. When he answered, he faced away, so she wouldn’t see his fangs. But she was probably wise to that trick.

“Guess I have to,” he said.

-

They split up and searched, Tahno in the Satomobile with Asami, Mako, and Beifong. He felt better knowing Beifong was there to keep an eye on him. He had no doubt she could take him in a fight, if need be. Sometimes he thought that remembering that was really all that kept him in line.

Night fell, and Tahno gave Mako his scarf back, feeling somewhat refreshed. In addition to feeling physically stronger, his head seemed less muddled, and it was easier to focus. Finally, amidst the many mingled scents of the city, he caught a very familiar one. “Wait,” he said. “That’s Korra. She’s hurt.”

“Which way?” Asami asked, glancing back at him, and Tahno pointed.

“How badly hurt is she?” Mako demanded.

“I don’t know. I can smell her blood,” he said. “Probably more than a papercut.”

“But she’s not….”

“Not what, dead? No, I don’t think so.” He pointed out a turn for Asami. “That way.”

“There’s a lot between a papercut and dead,” Mako said.

“Yes, and you distracting me is helping me find her faster,” Tahno snapped. At this point, no amount of distraction could have put him off the trail, though. He knew that blood. It was the same blood that was in his own body, and it called to him. But at least that shut Mako up.

Soon, they came into view of Korra lying prone on Naga’s back. Both he and Mako got out of the Satomobile and ran towards her, and Tahno happened to be faster. Once he was there, though, he hesitated, warring with himself. She was covered in lacerations, and though he was pretty sure his concern for her was stronger than whatever his body wanted, he felt his fangs extend, and that was enough to give him pause.

Mako pushed him aside roughly. “Don’t you think you should stay away from her, given the circumstances?” he said, pulling Korra into his arms.

“I’m the one who _found_ her,” he said.

“Hey, I’m only looking out for you,” Mako said. “If you actually do care about her, you want her to be safe, right?” Korra stirred, looking up into Mako’s eyes, and he cradled her gently. “It’s all right,” he said to her. “I have you now.” He turned to the polar bear dog. “Thanks for bringing her to us,” he said. “Sorry, we have to get her some help now. I’ll send someone back for you.”

Mako carried her back to the Satomobile. “I’m taking the backseat this time,” he said. “You can sit up front,” he said to Tahno. “Unless you think you’d be better off walking home.”

Tahno got into the front seat. “He didn’t seem to want me sitting next to you before,” he said to Asami. “Wonder what changed?”

He saw Asami glance in the rear view mirror at Mako and Korra. “I’m sure he was just convinced of your upstanding character.”

“Yeah, sounds real likely,” Tahno muttered. He could smell her blood strongly from the backseat, even with the night wind in his face. “Is she all right?” he asked.

“She’s resting,” Mako said, “but I think she’ll be okay.”

Tahno slouched in the seat, as physically far from everyone else in the Satomobile as he could get, and let himself feel relieved.

 


	3. Chapter 3

When they’d gotten back to the temple, Korra was fussed over by everyone, and he was just about to slip back into the basement when she called his name.

“Yes?” he said, coming a bit closer.

“I heard what you did,” she said. “Thank you.”

He nodded. “Least I could do.”

“Have you eaten?” she asked.

“No,” he said.

“You’re in no condition to—” Mako cut in.

“I know,” Korra said, “but _someone_ has to.”

Everyone looked at each other uneasily. “Can’t he go find someone selling it on the street?” Mako suggested.

“Do _you_ know where the illegal blood trade is?” Korra asked. “Because I sure don’t, and Tahno doesn’t either.”

Mako sighed heavily. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

“What, really?” Tahno said, startled.

“I don’t want you biting Korra, or my girlfriend, or my brother, so I guess I have to step up and be responsible,” he said. “Come on, where do you want to do this? Basement?”

“Basement’s fine,” he said, following Mako down.

Mako used a flame in his hand for a light. “Any funny business, and I’ll singe more than your hair,” he said.

They reached the bed, and Mako paused, putting the flame in his hand out, leaving them both enveloped in what for Tahno was a quite comfortable darkness. “Not yet, I’m not ready,” he said. He pulled off his scarf and his shirt, and set them aside.

“Why are you taking your clothes off?” Tahno asked.

“You really do see in the dark, huh,” Mako said. “Well, you creatures bite the neck, right? I don’t have many shirts, and I don’t need blood on them.”

The _neck_. Korra had never let him take from anywhere but the wrist. His fangs descended, his body tense with anticipation. “Okay,” Mako said, sitting on the bed. “Get it over with.”

“You’re going to let me do it in the dark?” Tahno blurted out in surprise. _Really, is this guy that ignorant, or just suicidal?_

“I don’t want to see your ugly face. Just do it.”

Tahno knelt behind Mako on the bed, nearing the curve of his neck where it ran into the planes of his shoulderblades. He put his hands on Mako’s shoulders awkwardly, then let them slide down his chest. That felt better than he would have liked, Mako’s warm, smooth muscles under his hands, his heart pounding a little fast with fear.

“What are you _doing_? Just bite me already.”

“Just trying to find a good position,” he said. “I _am_ new at this.” He leaned in just under Mako’s ear, taking in his scent, and feeling Mako shiver when his breath tickled the fine hairs there. He licked, and felt the hot artery pulsing under his tongue. He fairly melted with need.

“Did you just _lick_ me? What is wrong with you?”

“It’s a natural anesthetic,” he said defensively. “So it doesn’t hurt as much. Something you’re going to appreciate in a moment,” he said, sinking his teeth in.

There was absolutely a difference, feeding from the neck. Where the wrist had been a pleasurable trickle, this was a deluge. He had the sense of being eroded, swept away. He dug his fingers into Mako’s shoulders, making a little moan deep in his throat.

“Ow, you—” Mako said, clearly not sharing in any of Tahno’s pleasure. “Take it easy.”

He realized soon that this was as much as Korra had ever let him take, but Mako didn’t stop him, and ‘take it easy’ wasn’t exactly a no. He was quickly understanding why Korra fed him from the wrist. It would be far too easy to take too much this way. Mako was just pouring into his mouth, and nothing in the world was going to convince Tahno to stop. He realized that by the time Mako understood what was happening, he’d be too weak to fight him off.

 _I could kill him_ , he thought somewhere through his bliss. _I’m going to kill him._

_I don’t care._

He jerked his head back, in shock at that thought. _I don’t care._ He played it again in his mind. The blood was spilling from the wound, wasting. Quickly, he picked up one of the bandages Korra had left by the bed, and applied pressure.

“That’s it?” Mako said.

“Y-yeah,” Tahno replied. “That’s enough.” His voice was a bit shaky. He started wrapping a strip of fabric around Mako’s neck, to keep the pressure steady.

“Ow, that’s too tight.”

“Do you want to bleed out? Hold still.” He made sure to keep his hips back, so that Mako would not feel the inevitable feeding erection.

Mako got up when he was done, fidgeted with the bandage, and pulled his shirt on. “Well, that was weird and unpleasant,” he said. “I hope I never have to do it again.”

“Pity,” Tahno said, “you tasted fantastic.”

“Better than Korra?” he asked, and Tahno couldn’t tell if that was some sort of attempt at a dig or if he was actually curious.

“You know, I don’t think I could say one of you is better than the other,” he said honestly. “You’re both delicious.” He tried to come off cool and flippant. _And I nearly killed you,_ he thought. _And I nearly didn’t care._

“Well, I guess blood’s blood, right?”

“Oh, I could definitely tell the difference,” he said. He was actually beginning to feel a bit delirious. That was a welcome change from constantly starving, he supposed. The hunger wasn’t _gone_ , but he felt warm and tingly and nice. “For one thing, you were afraid. Korra never is.”

“Have I ever mentioned that you are just a disturbing, creepy person?” Mako said, walking away. “And I mean, even before the vampire thing, though I can’t say that’s improved on your personality any.”

Tahno breathed in deep. “I do scare you. You have no idea how much you _should_ be scared, though.” Now he was just trying to make it worse. He couldn’t help how much he loved that scent.

“Shut up,” Mako said uneasily. He lit a flame in his hand, but Tahno could tell by the unfocused way he was staring that he still couldn’t see him in the dark. He was too far outside his circle of light. Tahno looked right at him, and saw Mako’s eyes focus—must’ve been the reflective glint of his eyes. He’d have to account for that in the future, remember not to look at people directly. He could still get the drop on him. Lower his eyes to hide them, then move fast, very fast, to right in front of Mako, between him and the door, his face suddenly illuminated by Mako’s flame. He wouldn’t hurt him, of course, just ruffle his feathers a little. The predator in him thrilled at the thought, of just batting his prey around a bit, no harm done. The more fear he coaxed out of Mako, the more that sick, predatory part of him took control.

 _Is that any way to thank him for easing your hunger?_ he thought. _Half-kill him then scare the crap out of him? He didn’t have to help you, you know. None of them did._

“Thank you,” Tahno said, deliberately holding his gaze so Mako could see where he was. “I…I really mean it. I know you weren’t thrilled about it…but you don’t know how much it helps.”

“As long as it helps keep your creepy self away from people I care about,” Mako said. “And don’t think I didn’t notice how you were with Asami today. I don’t want you touching her. She’s been through enough with you people.”

 _You people_. As in, vampires. Being grouped with Amon and Hiroshi Sato stung more than a little, even if there was technically some truth to it. “I’m not in a position to refuse any willing vein,” he said. “If you don’t want her to offer, that’s something you need to take up with her, not me.”

“Oh, trust me, she’s not going to offer.” Mako went up the stairs, and once more Tahno heard the click of the lock and chains sliding into place.

More than the previous times, he felt trapped. He could probably break through some part of the room, if he absolutely had to—maybe the floorboards. But he wouldn’t be welcome here again after he did that. He tried to settle in bed. He wished Korra was with him. He wouldn’t hurt her. He knew he wouldn’t, no matter how much she smelled of blood.

_Like you wouldn’t hurt Mako._

_That’s different,_ he countered. _He—I wasn’t prepared to drink from the neck. It was just overwhelming. I didn’t mean it. I couldn’t._

He clutched the blankets tighter. His fangs had slipped back into place, but the post-feeding erection was still there, worse than the ones before. He brushed his hand against it, considering taking care of it, but didn’t want his mind to go…wherever the hell it went last time. So instead he tried to think of the opposite of that, anything that would make that thing go away.

He thought of bending. Not of the people he’d faced in the ring, or the things he’d done with it in bed—not _people_ , period, just him and the water. It was a clean, pure kind of pleasure, a satisfaction that didn’t depend on anyone else and didn’t hurt anyone. And of course it was something he’d never feel again. But he focused on the memory, until the ache at his groin ebbed and subsided.

Tahno found himself profoundly wishing there was someone there with him—not for their blood, just someone to put their arm around him and hold him in the dark.

-

He heard the chains being removed and the door unlocked, and when the door opened, the scent of Korra’s blood hit him hard. His fangs immediately extended. _Ugh,_ he thought, putting a hand to his head and willing them to retract, _who asked you, anyway?_

Korra came down the stairs with a lamp. He squinted up at her. “Are you doing okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “Just wanted to check on you, and tell you what happened.” She paused. “I heard about what you did. Thank you.”

He felt a warm glow at that, and smiled at her. _Fuck. Fangs_ , he thought, quickly turning away.

“Sorry, am I bothering you?” she asked. “I could come back later…or send someone else down who isn’t cut up all over.”

“No,” he said, a little too quickly. “Don’t go. It’s just…a physical reaction. I know it doesn’t look like it, but I am in control.”

“You sure?” she asked. “Whenever you get that look…you always look like you’re in pain.”

“It’s easier today,” he said. “Mako was…generous with me.”

“He really is a very giving person,” she said.

“I don’t think he realized just how much he was giving.” _Or how much he almost gave._ “How was he today?”

“I think he had a bit of a headache, but he seemed fine.”

They were silent a moment. “I weakened you, didn’t I,” Tahno finally said. “I took a little too much. You had to fight, and you weren’t at your best.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Korra said. “It was my choice. I thought I could handle it.”

He closed his eyes tight. “Look at me. Practically doing Amon’s work for him. Making you all easy pickings for him.”

She set down the lamp and sat down next to him. “It’s not your fault, okay. You’re just trying to survive. I don’t think you’re getting enough blood. Beifong’s working on finding another source for you.”

He nodded, and looked at her. “Can we just…not talk about blood, for a moment?”

“Okay,” she said, and started telling him about her escape. Tarrlok had kept her prisoner in a metal box, until Amon had showed up and she’d been able to trick them into thinking they’d electrocuted her when they opened it. When she got to the part about Amon turning Tarrlok, Tahno was clenching his fists.

“When I found your blood in his office, I wanted to kill him myself,” he said. “But even then I didn’t wish this on him.”

“I’m glad you didn’t kill him,” she said. “Him returning bought me time to escape from Amon. And besides…” she touched his shoulder gently, “I don’t want you to become a killer.”

She was right,  of course. Any righteous rage would only have been an excuse. And there would be other excuses later, flimsier ones. He picked her hand off his shoulder, at first as if he objected to it being there, but found himself running his fingers over hers gently, then up her arm, over her cuts and scratches. The little cut on her finger had been gone. So whatever impeded her healing from working must only apply to the wounds he made himself, not something in his saliva. He bent closer to the big laceration on her shoulder. “Do you…mind?” he asked.

“I don’t think you should bite me now,” she said. “I can leave if—”

“I won’t bite,” he said, “promise. Maybe I can just make it hurt a little less.”

She hesitated, considering, and gave a slight nod. “If it’s not too much trouble or anything…I mean, I’ve been trying to heal it with waterbending…I’ll get it to close eventually, it just takes a few sessions.”

Tahno leaned in towards her shoulder, and pressed a trembling kiss to the cut before dragging his tongue over it, very careful to keep his fangs from scraping her. He licked it a few times, in a dedicated sort of way, like a cat grooming, tasting the blood on his tongue but not allowing himself to suck at it. He worked his way down her arm this way, tasting every scratch, then up the other.

He was suffused in her scent, her taste, hardly aware of anything else. On her skin seemed such a pleasant place to drown himself. The only thing he didn’t allow himself to forget was that he _must not_ bite her, that she was fragile now and he couldn’t allow her to be hurt. He came up to the scratch on her cheek, brushing it gently with his thumb before licking there too. Then he sank down, pulling her shirt up, and licked a cut on her waist.

“I know you can probably find them all by scent, but that’s all I’m comfortable with you doing,” Korra said. “Don’t pull my shirt up any more.”

“All right,” Tahno said, regret in his voice. He pressed his cheek to her stomach. _So warm._

“I really do need to get you a heater,” she said. “You’re freezing cold.”

“Sorry,” he said, pulling away from her.

“It’s okay,” she said, and she got into his bed more, pulling the blankets over herself. “Get back here, I’ll warm you up.”

He paused a moment in surprise, then settled down with his head on her shoulder, pressed against her with the blanket over them both. She fairly radiated heat, and he felt it seep through him. “Sorry about before,” he said, still struggling to think clearly. “That must have been pretty disgusting for you.” When he was alive, the last thing he’d have wanted on a fresh wound was somebody’s cold, dead tongue.

“What was?”

 _Well, everything, really._ “All the…licking.”

“No, you made a lot of the pain go away. It was nice. Told you you’d come in handy.”

He hugged her a little tighter in gratitude. “You’re so warm. It feels good.”

“Is this…a good idea?” she asked. “You sound a little…drunk.”

“Mm, yes,” he said. “Drunk on your scent, and your taste. Feels nice. It’s okay though. I won’t hurt you. Promise I won’t hurt you.” He realized he sounded out of it, and he was. The urge to bite her was as strong as ever, but he soundly ignored it. This was too nice to ruin by hurting her, by doing anything she didn’t want.

His body was relaxing more and more in response to her warmth, as though it were just soaking all the tension and pain out of him. He hoped she wouldn’t mind him falling asleep on her, because he was going to at this rate.

Foggily, he was aware of himself coming to, Korra asleep under him. He could hear her pulse loud as thunder in his ears, steady, relaxed. He crept up her body slightly, to her neck, burying his nose there and just breathing her in for a moment. He started licking her neck, and she stirred. “Tahno, Tahno stop, look at me,” she said, but he was past caring. He bit down, and when she tried to pull him off, he grabbed her wrists, his grip crushingly strong, her body pressed under his. Her blood flowed into him, fast, too fast, her pulse was pounding hard now, getting erratic, and he could taste her fear—

He jerked away from her suddenly, getting tangled in the blankets and falling over. “What is it?” Korra asked.

Tahno was breathing hard, more out of emotional habit than necessity. He looked at her neck. The skin was unbroken. He could still taste her blood in his mouth, but it was older, weaker, from his attentions to her cuts.

“You just had a bad dream, I think,” she said.

“You…you were sleeping, and I….”

“I wasn’t sleeping, Tahno. I trust you, but I’m not _stupid_.”

“You…you trust me,” he repeated incredulously. “Did I ever tell you to do that?”

“You promised you wouldn’t hurt me,” she said.

“Don’t ever believe my promises,” he said, backing away from her further. “Don’t believe anything I say, unless it’s that I want your blood, because that’s the only time I’m honest.”

“Stop freaking out, it was just a dream. You didn’t do anything.”

He backed up until he hit the wall, trembling. “If you are ever in doubt as to whether you should _trust_ me, you just have to do one thing—look at my mouth. If my fangs are out, there is _one thing_ I am thinking about. ‘Just a physical reaction,’ I am such a _liar_ Korra, I’m lying my ass off and it’s going to get you killed.”

She got up and stepped towards him, leaving the lamp behind, now outside of its circle of light. He could see her steps get a little more uncertain as she came closer, not able to see clearly. “Just hold still a moment, okay?” she said. “I can tell you’re upset, and if I’m just upsetting you more I can go, but…I don’t want to leave you like this.”

“I know you can’t see me,” he said, his voice low, “so I’m telling you, my fangs came out the moment you walked in the room, and they haven’t gone back in. _Think_ , Korra.”

Korra was standing right in front of him, and he could tell by the way she was looking in the right place that she could see the gleam of his eyes, and probably a vague suggestion of the rest of him. He was completely frozen there, like an animal in the headlights of a Satomobile, not knowing what she would do next. She reached towards him, and he remained motionless as her hand touched his face, trailing tenderly down his cheek, and her thumb brushed against his lips, gently pushing them open, slipping inside. He felt her thumb rub against one of his fangs, which was quite temperature-sensitive. He didn’t dare speak, but choked out a whimper. _What are you_ doing _, Korra?_

Her thumb brushed back across his lips, and she dropped her hand. “They’re just teeth, Tahno,” she said. “Naga has bigger fangs than yours. I’m not scared of them.”

Tahno felt more than heard the sob, deep in his chest, and fell forward onto Korra’s shoulder, his sudden weight forcing her down to her knees. His breath came in great hitching sobs, and he felt her hand on his back.

“S-sorry,” he muttered, not seeming to be able to take his face off her chest. “I’m ruining your shirt.” He felt guilty about wasting the blood too, but there was nothing he could do to stop the tears from flowing.

“It’s all right, stupid. I have plenty of shirts.”

“I don’t even know,” he said through his tears, “how I haven’t hurt someone yet. I’d just need to slip for _one_ moment and it’d be something I could never take back. I’d be as bad as Amon.” He held her tighter. “I was _so_ scared. It…I remember what it felt like, to die. And I could see it. I could see myself doing it to someone, so easily. Knowing exactly how awful it feels.” He slid further down her body, into her lap. “This isn’t me. _I’m_ not me. I would never think these things. I never want to bite you again, Korra,” and _that_ hurt to say, because _he did, he did_ , “and I never want to see you hurt because of me, and I never want to smell your blood and _like_ it so much. I just want my own self back. I don’t want to be…this.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Maybe when we get you some more blood, you won’t be so hungry and it’ll get easier.”

“I don’t _want_ to need blood.”

“Well, you do, and that’s just a fact,” she said. “Denial isn’t going to help you.”

“Aren’t you the one in denial,” he said softly. “At least I know what I am. I don’t want it to be true, but I know it. You’re the one holding me like a crying child. Like some poor, suffering innocent. Like I haven’t been thinking of killing you this entire time I’ve been crying on you.”

“But that isn’t what you did,” she insisted. “You apologized to me for messing up my clothes, and you told me about your feelings. That part is _you_. Whatever else is going on in there, you’re the one in control, and you’ve stayed in control. You told me I should be afraid of your fangs, but I’ve yet to see you use them where you didn’t have permission.”

“I shouldn’t use them at _all_. I shouldn’t be hurting anyone.”

“Oh, yeah, _that’ll_ help lots. Starving yourself isn’t going to make this better.”

“Do you know,” he said, “I could smell your fear on Councilman Tarrlok.”

“Yeah, Mako mentioned that,” Korra said.

“Did Mako mention how much I _like_ fear?” he said. “I tasted his last night. I wonder what it would take, to make you afraid of me. Not very much, I think. See, your heart is already beating a little faster. You’re remembering that you’re injured, in no condition to really fight. You should have left when I started crying, harsh as that seems. Crying just makes me hungrier, you know.” He paused. “Now you’re probably wondering how much you’d have to burn me to make me stop if I turned on you. Would a little burn be enough to snap me out of it, or would you have to kill me? Would there even be time?”

“No,” Korra said. “I wasn’t thinking that. I was just thinking about how I’m going to get you enough blood. I’d probably be going pretty crazy too if I was starving and everyone was made of food.”

“How do you know it’s even possible to get me enough? Maybe I’ll just want more and more, and never stop being hungry.”

“Well, Hiroshi Sato seemed a lot more put-together, and he certainly had the money to buy as much blood as he needed.”

“Maybe he was killing people.”

“If he was, he did a fantastic job of covering up his tracks. Anyway, I did read somewhere that new vampires tend to need a lot more blood. I don’t know how much, but…if we get you through this, it’s going to get easier, I promise.” She stroked his tangled hair, and he relaxed somewhat.

After a few minutes, she started to get up, and he got off her and went back to the bed. She took the lamp, promising that he’d be fed sometime that evening, and told him to sleep some more if he could.

It took at least an hour after she left for his fangs to finally retract. Her scent was everywhere—on him, in the blankets, and the taste of her blood and skin lingered in his mouth, without any of the satiation of actually drinking it. The warmth she had left on him slowly dissipated.

A few hours later, the door opened again, and he saw Asami in the doorway, wearing her Equalist glove. “Come on,” she said, “get your money. We’re going for a bit of a drive.”

-

They headed out to Dragon Flats, Tahno mostly silent, embarrassed about his episode with Korra earlier. No wonder she didn’t want to see him. He wondered what she’d told Asami. He knew the glove was there for her protection. She seemed a bit nervous, but not really afraid.

“You’re unusually quiet,” she said at length. “You can’t be _that_ hungry, after all you took from Mako.”

“Did I take that much?” he asked innocently.

“He acts tough, but I did notice that my boyfriend was about three shades paler, yeah.”

“Ah, so you’re the one I have to watch out for,” he said teasingly. “After all, you’ve had the most close experience with vampires out of all of us.”

“You couldn’t even tell my dad was a vampire, though,” Asami said. “He wasn’t…obvious about it, like you.”

“I don’t even know how it would be possible to hide,” Tahno said. “Did he eat? I mean like, normal food.”

“Yeah,” Asami said. “He did take his meals alone a lot, but I saw him eating enough times that it never made me suspicious. He certainly did it at enough public events.” She paused. “Have you tried eating regular food?”

“No,” he said. “I haven’t really…wanted it, I guess.”

“Maybe it would do you some good to get some form of nutrition in you,” she said, and reached in her pocket. “Here,” she said, holding out a wrapped candy, “try this.”

He took the candy, unwrapped it, and sniffed it dubiously. He could definitely tell it was candy, and it smelled sort of objectively nice in the way the beach or a perfume might smell nice, but not in a way that seemed like _food_. He gave it an experimental lick, and made a face.

“You don’t like those?” Asami asked.

“I used to,” he said. He bit off a corner of it and chewed it, feeling like he was chewing clay. When he tried to swallow, his throat closed off, and he gagged. He spat the tiny mouthful out the side of the Satomobile. “Nope,” he said. “Not going to happen. You sure your dad was a vampire?”

She shrugged. “He had fangs.”

“Maybe he was just doing it for show, and throwing it up later, or something. That’s dedication.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” she said. She pulled the Satomobile over. “Okay, this is the place. Go in and…do your thing.”

Tahno got out and approached the building. There was no sign of any kind, and the windows were boarded up and painted over. He tried the front door, finding it open. As soon as the air inside hit his face, he knew he’d come to the right place. A lot of blood had been spilled here. His fangs sprang into his mouth right away, his whole body shivering with anticipation.

At the end of the hallway a large vampire leaned against the wall, watching him. Some kind of bouncer, he suspected. He looked Tahno up and down as he neared, and said, “In that way. Pay at the desk first.”

Tahno went to the desk and paid the fee—two hundred yuans, and he was torn between thinking _that’s a lot for a meal_ and knowing he’d have paid a lot more. He was given a stern lecture first—no killing, just blood, no sex—and escorted into a dingy room with a middle-aged woman in her underwear.

There were little round scars all over her body, and quite a few that hadn’t scarred yet, but were scabbed or open. The scent of blood on her was driving him mad, but he still had the thought, _That cannot be sanitary._ She had a silver chain wrapped around her fingers, and something about the look on her face told him she knew how to use it.

“Where would you like to bite?” the woman asked.

“I don’t know, is there a spot that hasn’t been taken already?” He looked her over thoroughly, and found the inside of one elbow that didn’t look too scabby. _Beggars can’t be choosers_ , he thought, and giving her a quick lick, bit down.

He immediately noticed that this was different from biting Korra and Mako had been. Her blood was still good, what there was of it, anyway, but her blood pressure seemed worryingly low, and her heart was weak and trembling. His first instinct was just to compensate by sucking harder, but as he did this he realized that at this rate, he was going to kill her.

 _Why oh why did the spirits curse me with a conscience,_ he thought, pulling back painfully. “Excuse me, ma’am, but I think someone took most of your blood already,” he said. “Or, several someones. Can I have someone else? No offense or anything, but I think you should take a few weeks off. And possibly get to a hospital.”

“You can go to the front and buy someone else, if that’s what you want,” she said.

“No, see, I already paid for a meal, and I didn’t get one,” he said.

“You bit me, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, and I hardly got anything. Maybe because there wasn’t all that much to _take_.”

“If you’re not finished, then take more,” she said, holding out her arm. “You’ve got another five minutes or so.”

“No, listen, if I do that, you will _die_ ,” he said. “I think you should stop taking customers for the time being.”

She laughed at him. “It’s fine, kid, I’ve done this before, take a bit more.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “As tempting as you make that, I have a bad feeling about what that bouncer out there would do to me if you died on me.” He went back to the main desk, and explained his situation.

“She’s fine,” the woman behind the desk said. “Finish up quick, or buy someone else.”

“You’re trying to stick me with the one who’s running on empty because I’m new, right? Or does she have some kind of death wish or something? Do you people just not _care_ about the lives of your employees?”

“Sir, either buy someone else or leave.” The bouncer’s hand was on his arm. _That bastard looks well-fed,_ Tahno thought. _I bet that’s where all her blood went._

“I want my money back.”

“You bit it, you bought it.”

It began to make sense. The people who worked here could only make money while they had blood in them, which they could only replenish so fast. A more experienced vampire would have been able to tell if someone was a good purchase _without_ biting them, but idiots like him would just go charging in. If he hadn’t stopped on his own, he felt sure she would have used the silver chain on him before he took it too far, and pointed out that killing was against the rules. Either way, he’d have paid full price for only a few mouthfuls of blood. “This…this is a scam,” he said, pounding on the desk. “You can’t—”

The bouncer started pulling him towards the door. “All right, that’s enough for tonight. Be seeing you tomorrow night, okay?”

“Fine, you win,” he said, as he was pulled through the hallway. “I’ll pay for someone else.”

“Tomorrow,” the bouncer said, laughing. “Give you some time to think about your manners.” He pushed Tahno roughly out the door.

 _Idiots_ , Tahno thought. _I would have spent a lot of money there._ But apparently they had to play their power game, to put him in his place because he was new. They thought he’d come back crawling. The worst part was, he probably would.

He sat down on the front steps, tasting the traces of blood in his mouth. Asami was getting out of the Satomobile and coming towards him, and he realized he didn’t want to be all fanged-out around her. _Come on, come on_ , he thought, running his hands through his hair and trying to clear his mind.

“You okay? Did you get what you needed?”

“Not really, and no,” he muttered, keeping his head down. _Go in you pointy bastards._ He tried to push them back up with his tongue, only succeeding in cutting his tongue. _Well that was entirely counterproductive_ , he thought, at the surge of blood in his mouth. He didn’t like the taste of his own blood at all, and fought the urge to spit it out. He was disgusting enough with blood apparently coming out of every orifice without randomly spitting it too.

His blood actually tasted a lot like Amon’s had. As he swallowed it, he had a flash of the pain and terror he’d felt with Amon’s hand in his mouth, looking up at that mask. His fangs slid back into place. Well, at least there was _one_ thing he could think of that didn’t make him want to eat people.

“What happened?” Asami asked.

Tahno got up, shaking his head. “I’ll tell you about it on the drive. Let’s just get out of here.” He flashed her a weak smile, to put her at ease, and noticed that she relaxed slightly.

He explained the situation at the blood den to her as they drove. “I can’t believe they’d do that,” she said. “I mean, they already have you where they want you, don’t they?”

“It might make most vampires better-behaved in the long run,” he said. “It shows us firstly, that we need them more than they need us, and secondly, that they’re under no obligation to be fair. That breeds some humility.” He grimaced. “I should have seen it coming, really—the managers in pro-bending are almost as bad.”

“So you’re still…”

“The less said about it, the better.” He was gripping the side of the Satomobile hard, the window down and his head leaned into the night wind—and away from her.

They rode in silence another few minutes, and Asami pulled over in a quiet lot by a factory.

“Why are we stopped here?” Tahno asked.

Asami took a deep breath. “I’m probably going to regret this in a minute, but I don’t want to take you back hungry.”

At the thought of Asami actually offering her blood to him, the fangs sprang eagerly into Tahno’s mouth. _No, no, no,_ he thought, _think of Amon, think of…_. He tried biting his tongue again, and the bitter taste of his blood filled his mouth, making him make a face.

“What…do I disgust you?”

“No,” Tahno said quickly, seeing her reaction change when she caught a glimpse of his fangs.

“You’re really giving me mixed messages here,” she said.

“I think you can just take it as a given that I want to say yes,” he said. “Really, really want to. But when your open is, ‘I’m probably going to regret this in a minute,’ I get the idea that you’re not really all that okay with this, and I…I’m probably going to take it anyway, let’s be honest here, so I think you need to be a little clearer about what you want, since you seem like a nice person who’s had some shitty things happen to you recently.”

“Well, so do you.”

He laughed bitterly. “Did you just call me _nice_? That’s a first.”

“You seem to be fighting this really hard. And from what I’ve heard from Beifong, that isn’t easy.”

“I just like to win, that’s all.” He realized he was staring at her neck, and looked away. “Come on, get us out of here before we both have something to regret.”

“I don’t want you to end up biting Mako again, at least not so soon.”

Tahno smirked, showing a bit of fang. “You realize you sound a lot like him now. I’m going to get you all sacrificing yourselves for each other. It’s sweet. And I’m really the only winner.”

“I thought you liked to win?” she said. She pulled her skirt up, and he saw that above her knee-high boots, her flesh was bare. “I don’t want Mako to know,” she said, “so you’ll have to bite somewhere a bit hidden.”

He looked longingly at the soft curve of her inner thigh, traced with blue veins. “I take it Mako hasn’t made it to Zone Three.”

“And won’t, at the rate he’s going,” she said, and pouted. “Really now, I’m not sure what gets you vampires excited, but you’re starting to make me feel unattractive here.”

“No, uh,” he said, touching her thigh, “I’m actually fairly sure that if you’d done this when I was still human and told me to drink your blood, I still would have taken you up on it.” He flashed his sharp-toothed smile at her. “Though for very different reasons.” He bent over her, her usual scent even stronger here, with a bit of musk. “How high up do you want me to go?” he asked, trailing up her thigh.

“There’s fine,” she said, shoving his head down a few inches. “Don’t get fresh.”

Tahno closed his eyes dreamily, letting himself be pulled towards a spot that was warm and pulsing just under the skin, dragged his tongue across it and sunk in.

The blood flowed hot and silky into him, faster than at the wrist, but not so dangerously fast as it had at the neck. He’d probably have done anything for blood even if it had all tasted as bad as the bottled stuff he’d gotten in the jail, just because of how rotten it felt to be _without_ it, but this was just cosmically good. In a way, that terrified him. He could start to like this life if he kept feeling things like this.

He felt her fingers stroking his hair, and thought that was rather sweet, until he remembered the glove she was wearing. Was that some kind of signal to stop? Should he stop now?

_No. Not yet. Please, not yet._

The seconds passed, slow, blissful. “Okay,” Asami said. “I think you should stop.”

He pulled away, and not having anything handy to press on the spot to stop the bleeding, a line of blood dripped down her thigh. Unable to bear the sight of it going to waste, Tahno licked it up, the trail leading him back to the open wounds, and pulling away the second time was even harder. She’d gotten out a handkerchief and was pressing it to the injury.

Tahno stretched back in his seat contentedly, then realized he was giving Asami a full view of his tented pants. He considered pulling his legs up to hide it, but that would be closing the barn door after the ostrich-horse had left. Instead, he turned to her, his eyes hooded. “Take a picture, it lasts longer,” he said.

“If I had my camera with me, I might,” she said. “You’re in quite a state. I take it you enjoyed yourself.”

“You have no idea,” he said. “Really, none.”

“What’s it like?” she asked, and he looked at her slightly askance.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Well, I don’t know, you were just practically orgasming in my lap. Can’t I be curious?”

“I wasn’t _orgasming_. It’s different.”

“But you are….” she said, gesturing at his pants.

“Oh, that. That always happens,” Tahno said with a scowl. “It just sort of…does that.”

“A lesser man would be embarrassed.”

Tahno raised his eyebrows at her. “Indeed.”

“But you didn’t answer my question,” she said.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” he said, pulling his fangs in. “It’s…still kind of upsetting.”

“What, it wasn’t upsetting to drink my blood, but it’s upsetting to tell me how it felt?”

“One of those things I pretty much _have_ to do,” he said. “Okay, fine, you really want to know? Imagine…imagine a big, aching hole in you, that’s made of pain and emptiness and need. And drop by drop, that’s filled and made whole, and the relief just washes over you like sleep when you’ve been up for days or water when you’re parched, and it just makes everything _right_ in you. Except you can’t ever get enough of it, and every time you stop that little bit of joy starts to drain again, and oh, every time you do it you’re hurting someone, and if you don’t manage to pull yourself away from that one good thing, you’ll kill them.” He smiled at her icily. “ _Exactly_ like an orgasm, of course.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Asami said, complete sincerity in her eyes, and Tahno softened slightly. “I guess I just sort of wondered…what my father’s life was like. Since he never told me anything.”

“Well, that all depends on what he was drinking,” he said. “The bottled stuff is disgusting.”

“But considering he probably had the resources to do whatever he wanted, why would he choose that, then?”

“Oh, I can think of a few reasons. Since he wanted to keep it a secret, it’s a lot easier to find one discreet supplier than to have to keep dozens of people silent. And even if he was killing them, a trail of bodies that long would catch up to anyone eventually, even him. He wouldn’t have to worry about killing anyone by accident. And there’s also the psychological factors,” he said. “To be honest with you…as good as what we just did felt, I’m only biting people out of desperation. It still freaks me out. If I had a steady supply of the bottled stuff…I’d probably just go with that.”

“You know, if a few weeks ago you’d told me that my father was a vampire, I could have come to terms with it. And I probably would have been the first to say that he’d be the sort of person to go out of his way not to hurt anyone, because I really thought that, human or not, he was a good man.” She paused, her lip trembling. “I was there at the finals match, in the stands. I…I didn’t even _like_ your team, I was booing you whenever you cheated. I laughed when Korra got you good in that tie-breaker match. But then when Amon came out….” She looked away, and he smelled the salt of her tears.

“You saw that, huh,” he said.

“Most of it. I had to turn away in some spots,” she admitted. “I wanted to see you lose the game, not beg for your life. It was so awful. And my father held me when I cried. He comforted me. That’s the kind of man I thought he was. Then I learned that the gloves used to stun the police so that could happen were manufactured under my own house. He collaborated with that monster.” She paused a moment, letting the tears come. “I’m sorry,” she said. “You suffered from what he did a lot more than I did.”

He pulled her close to him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. She might be crying because of her father now, but she had cried for him, even without knowing him or liking him, and he was oddly grateful for it. So there had been a sympathetic face in the crowd that night. It didn’t escape his attention that her hair and neck smelled lovely, but he fought those thoughts angrily. _Not the time, okay._

“I can even see why the _idea_ of the Equalists might appeal,” Asami said. “The fact that my father lived as a successful and productive member of society proves that it can be done. But only because he kept his condition a secret. I can’t _imagine_ if he’d been forced to live out in Dragon Flats and go to blood dens like the one we just came from. And of course there’d be prejudice against his products. I can understand people not wanting to buy our products now, considering he’s clearly been giving money and resources to Amon, but just based on what he was? And that’s not even getting into the whole suspicion of non-benders. Just because a bender can prove right away that they’re not a vampire, and a non-bender can’t…I got so angry when Korra started implying we might secretly be vampires, and then she turned out to be _right_ about my dad….”

“So what, you’re saying you agree with them?”

“No. They’re right about the inequality, the problems in society. But I don’t even understand how they could go from that to thinking it’s okay to just kill and turn people. I don’t see how my father could hold me and comfort me that day and not see that this was _wrong_. I don’t get how he could be so self-righteous and so incredibly out of touch.”

“Maybe it is because they’re vampires,” Tahno said.

“But you’re not like that.”

He pushed her back gently, and forced a weak smile. “I guess,” he said. “Come on, we should head back. I’m assuming you wanted _some_ sleep tonight.”

Asami wiped at her eyes and started the Satomobile. “All this is our secret, okay?”

“Yeah.”


	4. Chapter 4

Tahno paced back in forth, started to climb the stairs, then stepped back down.

Something was wrong up there.

He heard a woman cry out in pain, and bolted to the top of the stairs, his ear pressed against the door. That wasn’t Korra, or Asami, at least he didn’t think it was….

Closing his eyes, Tahno listened as hard as he could. Moments like this, he was strangely glad his heart was silent. As loud as things seemed to him now, something hammering away in his chest would probably drive him mad.

Bits of phrases drifted down to him, and he pieced it together. Tenzin’s wife was having her baby. Okay, maybe that’s what all the fuss was about. He was about to go back down the stairs, when he heard something else.

_Airships?_

And…fighting, maybe. Or just training? The airships might be unrelated. There was plenty of air traffic, and he still wasn’t quite sure just how much his hearing could pick up if he really tried.

He put his hands to the door, and pushed slightly, feeling it catch against the lock. He could break that, if he had to. And the silver chains….he’d work something out. Or maybe he’d find another way.

But if he did that, he’d better have a damn good explanation. Everyone would be on edge, especially if there was a new baby around. People got…protective. He didn’t think, ‘I just thought I heard something’ would work, if he turned out to be imagining things.

_If they wanted my help, they’d come let me out._

He slid down the door and sat on the top step, his cheek pressed against the wood, feeling the vague presence of the silver, but not close enough for it to quite hurt.

It was probably nothing. He should just go back to sleep. He just hated feeling so helpless, not even being able to ask what was going on.

After waiting there a while, he heard footsteps coming towards him at a run, and the chains being pulled off quickly. He sat up, getting properly worried again. At least in a moment he’d have answers.

Korra pulled the door open, and jumped slightly at the sight of him right there. “Good, you’re awake,” she said, recovering quickly and grabbing his hand.

“What’s going on?” he asked, wincing as she dragged him into the light. It was still relatively dark in this part of the temple. He knew the worst was still to come as she pulled him towards the exit.

“We have to get out of here. Equalists are attacking again.”

“What do you mean, _again_?” She dragged him out into the yard, and squinting, he made out Naga’s silhouette, and caught the scents of Korra’s friends.

“You’re bringing him?” That was Mako.

“What, you want me to just leave him to starve in the basement?”

“That’d be a nice surprise for them once they thought they’d secured the temple,” Mako said.

“I think they know a few things about how to deal with vampires,” Asami said, and Tahno thought he detected an unspoken _idiot_ hanging off the end of that sentence.

“All right, enough talking, everyone get on,” Korra said. It wasn’t easy for them all to scramble on the poor beast, and Tahno found himself barely holding on to Asami at the back. They made a run for it over the island, Naga managing to bat an attacking Equalist out of the way, and swam under the harbor, Korra keeping a bubble of air around them with her waterbending.

“What happened?” Tahno whispered to Asami as they crossed under the harbor.

“Amon’s in his endgame,” she said. “He’s kidnapped all of the Council except Tenzin, and the new chief of police, and is occupying Republic City. He’s trying to eliminate the last of the airbenders. Tenzin and his family went off with Beifong on a flying bison.”

“ _What_?” Tahno demanded. “Why would they attack in the day, anyway?”

“Oh, they’re human,” Mako said. “Most of them, anyway. They’re mostly wannabes. Amon is promising to turn his followers.”

“What kind of an idiot would want that?” Tahno asked.

“Amon is making big changes,” Asami said darkly. “It’s going to be a lot better to be a vampire in his world.”

“And what exactly does he think all these new vampires are going to eat?”

“Anyone who resists him,” Asami said.

“And that’s it? We’re just going to run away?”

“We’ve sent for help from the United Forces,” Mako said. “They should be here in three days. We just need to survive that long.”

They reached the other side, and started walking towards some kind of dark tunnel. Tahno stopped dead in his tracks. “That’s a sewage tunnel,” he said, his hands in front of his nose and mouth. “No way am I going in there.”

“The rest of us don’t like it either,” Mako said.

“The rest of you don’t have a nose like a shirshu.”

“Fine, have fun staying out here in the sun,” he said, and Tahno heard his feet splashing through the muck.

Asami took his arm. “If anything, I’m jealous of you right now,” she said. “At least you don’t have to breathe.”

“Point,” he said. “Give me something nice to smell for the road?”

Asami leaned towards him a bit, and he brushed his nose against her hair, taking a deep breath and holding it. _Lovely._ They went into the tunnel together.

Tahno didn’t speak while they were in the tunnel, to avoid the need for air, but even without circulating it, the stench seeped into his nostrils. It was bad enough that he began to tear up. He didn’t have a handkerchief or anything with him, and ended up wiping it on his sleeve. _Nothing allays suspicion like wandering around sewage tunnels with bloodstains on your clothes_ , he thought.

They made their way out somewhere in the slums, and followed Mako and Bolin to an alley in a run-down industrial section, coming to a ramshackle tent city. It was shadowed, but still far too bright for comfort as far as Tahno was concerned. “We can hide out here for a while,” Mako said. “No one will be looking for us here.”

“And with the stench of sewage on us, we’ll blend in,” Asami said.

“Don’t be so quick to assume,” Bolin said cheerfully. “Poor doesn’t have to mean dirty.” He looked around, seeing Tahno rubbing his bloodied eyes. “What’s wrong with him?”

Tahno coughed a little. “Oh, just gagging on the stench of human waste. Is there a place I can wash up?”

“Um, yeah, should be,” Bolin said. “Why don’t I show you, c’mon.” Tahno saw Mako and Bolin glance at each other, and Bolin shrug before leading him into a darkened, broken-down building. They came out the other side to a heavily overgrown courtyard, with a rusty pump in the middle. There was a well-worn path to the pump, and everything around it was covered in dense weeds and vines.

Bolin helped Tahno by pumping some water, and Tahno did his best to wash himself, clothes and all. He realized he hadn’t bathed since the night of the match, not since he’d drowned. He hadn’t particularly needed to, since he didn’t seem to get greasy or sweat, but there was another reason—clinging to his body faintly had been his own scent, or at least, how he’d smelled when he was human. His new body chemistry had another, less pleasant scent, almost vinegary, though it was mild enough that he didn’t think it could be detected by humans. But he’d never find his old scent again under all that muck, anyway.

After he’d thoroughly rinsed himself, scrubbing as best he could with his hands, Tahno sat there trying to squeeze the water out of his hair and clothes. With his waterbending, he’d never really thought of being wet as something you could get _stuck_ in. He’d assumed it would take a few more minutes to dry without bending, but this was ridiculous. It was like the world was mocking him.

He glared up at Bolin, who was fidgeting nervously, and caught a stray whiff of fear under the reek of sewage. ” _What_?” he demanded.

“Nothing,” Bolin said, looking away.

“Look, I’m hardly going to bite you when you smell like a sewage pipe. Even I have standards, as it turns out. So just…stop doing that, please.” He sat with his head in his hands, dripping miserably.

“Stop doing what?”

“That…that thing. Ugh, your heart is _loud_.”

“…Sorry?” Bolin said, as if he wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. “Actually, no, you know, my heart being loud is good, I’d like to keep it that way.”

They sat in silence a moment. “Did you need me to pump water for you?” Tahno asked at length, unsure why Bolin was hanging around.

“Nah, we’ll probably find some clothes to change into before we wash these, and I’ll get Mako or Korra to heat the water. It’s freezing cold out.”

“Oh, right,” Tahno said. He hadn’t failed to notice the cold, but he was cold no matter what he did, and being wet didn’t seem to make it any worse. Not like he had any body heat to lose.

“Look…” Bolin said, “if you’re going to be in the group, I should probably just explain why I’ve been avoiding you…it’ll probably help you understand a lot about Mako’s behavior, too.”

“Oh?” Tahno said.

“Well…it’s just….” He fiddled with something at his neck, and Tahno realized he was unfastening the collar of his shirt. He pulled it loose and leaned his neck towards Tahno.

“What are you _doing_?” Tahno said. He was very close to taking back his comment about having standards.

“Showing you my scar?”

“Oh. I…I can’t really see very well right now, it’s too bright. I mean, I can see your face, it’s just kinda blurry.”

“Oh,” Bolin said, doing his shirt up again. “Well, I have a scar. From a vampire. Not long after we’d lost our parents and were on the street, I was approached by a guy who offered me a lot of money to help him with something. I thought he meant like, pulling weeds or carrying things. I’m lucky he only took me into an alley, not someplace more private, or Mako might never have found me. It was almost too late when he did. He had to burn the guy off me, and it took me weeks to recover. I almost died.”

Tahno felt a pang on his own neck, and touched the bite wound Amon had left, still not fully healed. He remembered shaking, Amon standing over him, kneeling to bite— _no, not now._ “I don’t know what to say…I’m sorry that happened to you,” Tahno said.

“Thanks,” Bolin said. Tahno could actually sense him relaxing slightly. _Is that really all he wanted from me? A few words of sympathy?_ “For what it’s worth,” Bolin said, “I’m sorry about what happened to you, too. I mean, I didn’t like you, actually, I thought you were a—”

“You can just stop after ‘I’m sorry about what happened to you’ and leave it at that,” Tahno said.

“Sorry,” Bolin said. “I was just trying to say that whatever problems we may have had….it seems kinda unimportant now. We’re on the same side. Actually, you know, I’m kind of glad you’re here.”

“And why’s that?”

“Well, I mean, all the stuff Amon says about vampires being oppressed, especially by benders…even if it’s not true, we’re all benders except for Asami, and none of us are vampires, so…what do we know about it?”

Tahno put a hand to his head. “You’re glad I’m here because you think I give you credibility? I haven’t given much thought to the politics of it, okay. I just want to get back at Amon for what he did to me. Plus I’m grateful to Korra for probably saving my life.”

“Oh,” Bolin said. “Well, I mean, if Amon stayed in control, it’d probably still be better for you, right? He’s made blood donation mandatory for all healthy adults, and removed the ban on vampires living outside of Dragon Flats. He even has the government offices and courts open at night.”

“I…hadn’t really thought about that.”

“Me and my big mouth,” Bolin said. “You’re not going to change sides, or anything like that?” He laughed nervously.

“Don’t insult me,” Tahno said, getting up. “After what Amon did to me? I don’t really give a shit if he’s the best leader Republic City could have. This is _personal._ ” With that he stalked off, looking for someplace dark to spend the day.

-

He woke to the dark blue sky of twilight showing through the window of the abandoned house. To his surprise, he wasn’t alone in the room. Asami sat by a small fire, with a tea set. She’d gotten cleaned up. Tahno noted with distaste that his own clothes were still soggy. He didn’t even have body heat to help dry them, and it wasn’t like he’d have sat in the sun, either. He really couldn’t have imagined that water would be such a massive inconvenience.

“Good morning,” Asami said.

“Good morning yourself,” Tahno replied, smiling at her sleepily. “Don’t suppose you’re here to give me my breakfast?”

“Sorry,” Asami said, “I haven’t even gotten anything to eat myself.”

“Really? I didn’t think of the Uhvatar as the type to forget dinner.”

“Oh, they’re all eating dumpster food. I just…passed.” She made a show of focusing on the tea. “You must think I’m a priss.”

“Nah,” he said. “I’d be one to talk, after bleeding from the eyes over a bad smell.”

Asami laughed. “You’re okay now though, right?”

“Yeah, just _wet_.” He grimaced. “I’ve been waterbending since I was two. I never thought the day would come when being wet would be a bad thing.”

“Come sit by the fire,” she said, and he did.

“I was thinking,” Asami said, “maybe it would take the edge off your hunger if you drank some water.”

“I dunno,” he said. It didn’t appeal to him much.

“Well, the way I figure it, blood has water in it, right? You’re obviously using the moisture in your body, so your body has a need for water. Maybe you don’t get thirsty for it because your instincts are telling you to get blood instead, but drinking water would at least help with the dehydration. I’m not saying it’d work forever, just on days when you can’t get blood.”

“I guess it’s worth a shot,” he said.

Asami poured from the kettle into a teacup and tested it with her finger, mixing with a little cold water from another cup. “I thought it might go down better if it was body temperature,” she said. “Here.”

Tahno took the cup, enjoying the warmth in his hands, and looked at it a moment. It just felt so nice and…normal. _Come on, water_ , he thought, bringing the cup to his lips. _Be nice to me, for old time’s sake._

He had to force it down a bit, and it did feel strange, but not entirely bad. The warmth felt good, anyway.

“How is it?” Asami asked anxiously, leaning forward.

“It’s….hm,” Tahno said, taking another sip cautiously, then getting up quickly and trying to run to the other room. He made it as far as the doorway before doubling over and retching. The water came back up tinged with blood. He heaved a few more times, not producing much, and stood up shakily. “Can we just…not experiment with me anymore for a little while?” he said, turning to face her wearily.

“I’m so sorry,” Asami said. “I just thought….”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine,” he said, slumping back down by the fire. “I wouldn’t mind having another hot cup just to hold, though,” he said, and Asami poured him one.

He saw something gleaming on the floor next to him in the assorted detritus. A mirror. He reached to pick it up, but dropped it very quickly, hearing it crack as it hit the ground.

“What’s wrong?” Asami asked.

“Silver backing,” he said, shaking his hand. “I should have known.”

“Let me see.”

“It’s fine,” he said, showing her his hand. He hadn’t held on long enough for it to really burn.

“Here,” Asami said, holding up the mirror for him. “Did you want to look?”

Tahno turned towards the cracked mirror warily. He almost didn’t recognize himself. Even in the warm firelight, his skin and lips was several shades too pale. It looked unnatural, bloodless. His eyes, by contrast, were a bit bloodshot, and looked tired, with reddish circles under them. They were still the same color, though, that sort of silvery blue, the only part of him he really recognized, like his own eyes looking out of a stranger’s face. His hair hung in limp, tangled clumps, still a bit wet, and his cheeks were a bit more gaunt and hollowed than he remembered them.

“Well,” he said, looking away. “I look like shit.”

“I could comb your hair,” Asami offered. “If it dries like that, it’s going to be almost impossible to untangle.”

“You’ve been itching to do that for a while, haven’t you.” He smiled slightly.

“I didn’t know how to bring it up. You seemed to be dealing with bigger problems.”

“Well, go for it,” he said, tossing his hair. “You look like you take pretty good care of yours, so I trust you.”

Asami took a comb out of her pocket and knelt behind Tahno. She ran her fingers along the side of his head, gathering the first section of hair. Tahno tightened his jaw a bit and looked down.

“You sure you’re okay with this?” she asked.

“It’s fine,” he said. He remembered her taste the night before, filling him, then was snapped out of it by a tug on his scalp, drawing a little grunt of pain out of him.

“Sorry,” Asami said. “It’s really tangled.” She was still working her way up from the bottom of that section. This was going to take a while.

“Amon is giving out blood to any vampire in need at distribution stations around the city,” Asami said. “I don’t really feel right about that, considering he collected it by force, but I thought that maybe you….”

“Everyone will know I’m helping Korra now, though, after that stunt with the Council,” Tahno said. “And I know my looks have taken a hit, but there’s still a chance people will recognize me from the papers.” It hurt to think of turning away blood that was right there for the taking, but the part of him that still knew how to use logic knew he couldn’t risk it. The very last thing he wanted was to end up at Amon’s mercy again.

“True,” Asami said. “I probably have the least recognizable face, the rest of you being all over the papers for pro-bending and all. Do you think maybe I could just say I’m a vampire and get some for you?”

“Hah,” Tahno said. “If there’s even one vampire there…no. They’ll know.” Her comb reached his scalp, and he leaned into it, making an effort not to moan and failing slightly. He caught her smile out of the corner of his eye, and she moved on to the bottom of the next section.

“If it’s scent, maybe I could just…wear a lot of perfume, or something.”

“And maybe if you try humming, they won’t hear your heartbeat,” he said. “No, Asami, sweetie, don’t go into a place like that. You’re going to end up _in_ the bottles.”

Asami pulled through the next knot a bit harshly, and then swept the comb through the newly-liberated patch of scalp, and Tahno hissed through his teeth. About half of his hair was done now, and she ran her fingers through it.

“Nhn,” he said. His hair was definitely going to smell like her now. Well, there were worse things.

Footsteps approached, and Tahno glanced up to see Mako entering the room. “Asami, there you are, I was getting worried. What are you _doing_?”

“Just combing Tahno’s hair,” she said.

“You shouldn’t even be alone with him, he’s dangerous.”

“Yeah, he might brutally murder me by sitting nicely while I play with his hair,” Asami said. “I’ve been up here about an hour, you get protective _now_?”

“I just assumed you’d have a bit more sense,” Mako said. “I…sorry, Asami, I just really care about you, and I don’t know what I’d do if I came up here to find you being hurt, or….” He trailed off, frustrated. “I don’t understand why you’d want to spend time with that creep anyway.”

“I am right here, you know,” Tahno said. He glanced behind Mako and saw Korra watching him, looking jealous and hurt, and Bolin not far behind her, looking at Korra with longing…. _Oh, this is just ridiculous_.

“Here, why don’t I clear some of this up for you,” Tahno said, rolling his eyes. “Asami, Korra, Mako likes you both, you can just decide for yourselves what you want to do with that.” He saw Mako scowl defensively, about to speak, and continued: “And Mako, you can stop worrying, I’m not moving in on either of your girlfriends, I’m far more interested in drinking their blood than I am in dating them.”

“But that _is_ what I’m worried you’ll—” Mako started.

Tahno cut in again. “And Bolin…oh, Bolin, honey. Seems we’re the odd ones out. We should just have sex, don’t you think? We’re too good for all this drama.”

Bolin coughed. “You’re not…really my type.”

Tahno tried not to let that go to his pride too much, telling himself he’d been joking anyway, but remembering the wreck he’d seen in the mirror, it still stung a little. He was dead and looked it, and doubted that was much of anyone’s type. Asami resumed combing his hair, and he gave Mako the smuggest look he could muster, thoroughly enjoying the jealous glare he got in return.

Maybe it was petty, but it felt good to pretend that the biggest threat he posed to them was as a romantic rival. He was used to that role. It was comforting, almost nostalgic at this point. It was a very human sort of way to be hated.

Korra was pacing, agitated, saying something about the need for reconnaissance, and she and Mako started making plans. Tahno knew this stuff was probably important, but couldn’t focus on it, opting instead to go somewhat boneless under Asami’s attentions.

Finally, Asami finished with his hair, and held up the mirror again so he could see her work. He didn’t really want to see himself again, but he glanced to be polite. “Well, at least the _hair_ isn’t a wreck anymore,” he muttered, running a hand through it. It was nothing like its former glory, but then, what was. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

He got up and walked towards the exit.

“Where are you going?” Asami asked.

“I just need some air,” he said.

Tahno wandered aimlessly around the tent city. There were a few drifters bundled in blankets or sitting around fires. Remembering the reflective properties of his eyes, he kept them low, so no one would see them gleaming out of the dark at them. He wasn’t even sure if he was doing this out of consideration for them, or if it was hunting instinct. That thought gave him chills.

After a time, he noticed that his footsteps had echoes, and caught a few glimpses of his shadow when she wasn’t being quite as stealthy as she thought she was. He sighed. “Hey, Korra.”

Silence. Or what she thought passed for silence, anyway. He laughed darkly. “You’re not fooling me, Korra.”

“You must’ve made a mistake, there’s no Korra here,” Korra said, stepping into view.

“Ah. I stand corrected.” He smiled at her, then wondered if she could even see it. “Spending your night babysitting me?”

“I’ve just got your back.”

“I see. You could tie me up if you don’t trust me.” He paused. “I meant that as sarcasm, but you look like you’re actually considering it.”

“Actually, I was thinking, do you want to do recon with me?”

“I’d have thought you’d want to go with Mako.”

“Fun as that sounds, that base is going to be full of vampires. Not only would it be nice to know which ones are which, but they’d be able to sense that we were both human. Could limit our access.”

“And there’s the added advantage of keeping an eye on me,” Tahno said. “Well played.”

“Is that a yes or a no?”

Tahno nodded. “I’m in.”

-

“Okay. On my word, we knock them out and take their uniforms,” Korra whispered.

“No. They’re both vampires. And could you whisper any _louder_? They’re going to hear us.”

“What, from all the way over there?”

“ _Yes_.” He raised his eyebrows for emphasis.

“I still think we could take them.”

“Maybe you could,” Tahno whispered with a dubious look. “They’re probably older and better fed than me.”

They waited some more, until another pair of Equalists walked by. “Humans,” Tahno said. “Let’s do it.”

Korra nodded quickly, and they struck. It was over all too fast. One of the Equalists tried to chi-block him, which didn’t even have the effect of making him numb, and he knocked the poor fool’s head back into the wall. When he looked around, Korra had taken care of hers as well. They dragged the two into the bushes, to change in privacy.

Tahno did not fail to notice that his prisoner was bleeding from where he’d struck his head on the wall. His fangs had come out at the first scent of blood. He cradled his prisoner’s head, and licked the wound before he could think about what he was doing. Then…that was it, he knew what he was going to do with him, but not from the scalp, that would be a terrible place to drink. He started stripping the Equalist’s clothes off, and when he’d peeled off the uniform, he pulled the man towards him and bit his neck. He found that Equalist blood tasted just as fantastic as everyone else’s.

Korra, partially changed into her own prisoner’s uniform, glanced over him and her eyes widened with alarm. Before Tahno could react, she kicked him hard in the head, knocking him off his Equalist prey, and stood over him with fire in her hands.

“Put those out,” Tahno hissed. “We’ll be seen!”

Korra did so grudgingly, but grabbed him by  the collar of his shirt. “What the _hell_ was that, Tahno? I thought you had some control!”

“He was an Equalist!” Tahno said. “He deserved it!”

“What, he deserves to get _eaten_?”

“I wasn’t going to kill him,” Tahno insisted. “He’s fighting for a regime that treats humans as food whether they like it or not. See how he fucking likes it.”

“You’re supposed to be _better_ than them,” Korra said furiously, pressing him into the ground, crushing his feeding erection between them. He saw by the disgust on her face that she felt it.

“K-Korra,” he said. “The Equalist. He’s bleeding out.”

“Is that all you can think about? Wasted blood?”

“No, I mean he’s _dying_ , idiot.”

Korra whipped around and saw the Equalist bleeding copiously from the neck. The two little pricks Tahno had made wouldn’t have bled this fast, but the force of her kick had torn his fangs through his throat, and his blood was pooling on the ground. “Shiiit,” Korra said, running to him and trying to apply pressure with Tahno’s shirt. “Shit. What do we do?”

Tahno had never really heard her swear like that before. But then, he’d never seen her partially responsible for someone dying, either. He rubbed where Korra had kicked him, just over his left eyebrow. He wasn’t sure how his body handled blunt trauma, but it felt like it was going to bruise. “I don’t know,” he said.

“You…you have to give him some of your blood.”

“No way,” Tahno said. “Never. I’m not turning anyone.”

“He’s going to die.”

“I’d rather let him die.”

Korra looked up at him, her hands covered in blood, and for the first time, she really did seem to be seeing a monster. “You’ll be a murderer.”

Tahno felt the tears well up in his eyes, and couldn’t stop them. “It was an accident. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“No,” Korra said. “No, I’m not going to let it go this way. Tahno, get that uniform on.”

“What?”

“Just _do it_!”

Numbly, Tahno pulled on the dying man’s uniform, and he saw Korra putting his own clothes on the Equalist, or what was left of them after she’d made a makeshift bandage by tearing strips off his shirt. She hefted him up, pulled her mask down, and signaled Tahno to do the same. Tahno followed her into the building.

They quickly found an Equalist who seemed to be in charge. “He’s a vampire,” Tahno whispered to Korra, and she nodded.

“We just had a little accident,” Korra said to the vampire, “is there an infirmary around here?”

The vampire took a look at the man Korra was carrying, picked up his wrist and let it drop, then turned to Tahno. “You’re going to get written up for this. What do you think the blood banks are for? You can’t just go around half-killing civilians.”

“Ah, yeah, I know,” Tahno said, putting his hand to his neck in staged embarrassment. “It’s just, you know, it tastes so good, I can’t help myself. And that’s what the humans are for, right?”

“Infirmary’s on the second floor, towards the back,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“Uh, Hasook,” Tahno said.

“Listen, Hasook, you’re going to have to go through orientation all over again. Amon’s glorious vision isn’t about just ripping anyone’s throat out in the street.”

“Great, I’ll be back for that orientation,” Tahno said. “Just gotta get this guy to the infirmary before it’s too late.”

As they left, Tahno saw the vampire shake his head and mutter, “Fucking new recruits.”

They reached the infirmary and dropped off their charge, and Tahno was all for getting out of there before they were discovered, but Korra said that since they were already in the building, they might as well try to get some information.

Tahno lurked several paces behind her, and when she stopped, he stopped too. Finally, she turned to him angrily. “What the hell are you doing back there? Just keep with me and act normal.”

“You’ve got blood on you,” Tahno said.

“Oh, well, whose fault was that? I don’t care about your delicate nose, suck it up and do your part.”

“You ask these things of me, then you get mad when I lose it and bite someone,” he said, drawing up level with her.

“Damn right I hold you responsible for your actions,” she said. “And to think, I was actually starting to think you were basically a good person, that you’d never bite anyone who wasn’t willing.”

“I _did_ try to warn you.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you did.” She looked around. “Where _are_ we?”

“I think we’re in the morgue.”

He saw her shudder. “Let’s get out of here, then.” She turned back, glanced in the glass window set in a door as she passed it, and stopped in her tracks.

“Tahno,” she said, her voice gone cold and scared. “Look.”

Tahno looked over her shoulder through the glass. Lying on a steel table was former police chief Lin Beifong, pale as the sheet draped over her, a bite mark purplish on her neck.

He couldn’t see Korra’s face behind her mask, but he could smell her tears. “She didn’t make it,” she said.

“I…I think it may be worse than that,” Tahno said. He tried the door. It was locked, but a good push from him opened it anyway. He pulled his mask off and sniffed her face. Inconclusive. With a quickly muttered apology, he pressed his mouth on Beifong’s, and pushed his tongue in her cold, unresisting mouth.

“What the hell are you _doing_ , do you have no respect for the dead?” Korra demanded. “This isn’t one of your games!”

Tahno slid off the table, curling up on the floor. That taste in his mouth…he’d never forget it. Ever. “She’s been made to drink Amon’s blood,” he said.

“Oh,” Korra said. “Oh. We can’t leave her here.” She scooped up Beifong’s limp body. “She’s so light without her armor,” she said.

Tahno glanced around the room one last time, and spotting a cooler, opened it and found three bottles of blood. He took all of them. It was cold enough outside that they’d probably keep fairly well there.

He went first into the hall, knowing that his hearing made him the better lookout, and waved Korra forward.

-

“When do you think she’ll wake up?”

“Dunno,” Tahno said, sitting with his arms folded over his knees, staring at the corpse. They’d given her the best moldy old bed in the abandoned building, dragged down into the dark basement, on his recommendation. The walls were crumbled away in spots, and they’d stuffed the cracks with bits of old curtains. He’d told them having a lot of bright light in her eyes when she woke up would only add insult to injury.

“How long did it take you?” Korra asked.

“I didn’t really keep track of time well,” Tahno said. “Spirits know how long I was in jail. Felt like at least a day.” He turned to her. “You really shouldn’t be here when she wakes up. You’ve got blood all over your clothes. And besides,” he said. “I don’t have to worry about her hurting me.”

Korra nodded. “Come and tell us when she’s awake.”

“I will.”

-

Tahno lay there on the cold concrete, waiting, slipping in and out of sleep. Beifong was motionless beside him. He felt an awareness of the three bottles of blood with him, and, between dreams and fantasies, the thought came to his mind, _it didn’t work, she isn’t going to wake up, just drink them._ He resisted. As hungry as he was now, it had been so much worse when he’d first risen. She’d need it more.

It was around sunset that she finally stirred. Tahno sat up, and saw her open her eyes, the flash of fear as she saw his uniform, then recognition of his face. “What…what happened?” she said weakly. “Is Tenzin….”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Sorry. We found you in the hands of the Equalists. I’m afraid we were too late.” He paused. “Well, this has come full circle, hasn’t it?”

“Where am I?”

“Some abandoned slum in some alley that’s crumbling too much for junkies to risk getting high in,” Tahno said. “The Avatar is here.”

He saw Beifong touch the bite mark on her neck, probing the ugly, gaping holes. “You have to keep her away from me.”

“Yeah, I thought that far ahead,” Tahno said. “And here, look. I even have some blood for you.” He opened the bottle, and saw her eyes widen as the scent of blood hit the air, his own fangs extending, even though he knew it wasn’t for him.

“Keep that away from me,” Beifong growled.

“I know it’s disgusting,” Tahno said, “and I’m not gonna sugar-coat it, it tastes like shit too. But you’ll feel better. Trust me.”

“No,” Beifong said, trying to back away from him on the bed, “you don’t understand. A conversion doesn’t become permanent until the subject drinks human blood.”

“ _What_?” Tahno repeated. “You’re…you’re delusional. He killed you, okay? It’s done.”

“No,” Beifong said again, her eyes cold and very steady. “If Amon is killed before I’ve tasted human blood, I can become human again.”

Tahno said nothing a few moments, in shock. She was serious, and didn’t look insane. _It can’t be. It can’t._ “So the first thing you did,” he spat, “the very first, was seal my fate. You’re…you’re just as guilty as he is.”

“That’s not true,” Beifong said. “I was trying to help you.”

“You mean to tell me that _all this_ could have been temporary? That I could have actually gotten my _life_ back? And you didn’t even give me the _choice_?”

“You’d be dead now if you’d chosen it,” Beifong said. “A new vampire without blood has a few days at most. And they’re not _pleasant_ days. You would have been in pain, driven mad, a danger to everyone around you.”

“Fuck,” Tahno said, the tears coming to his eyes. “You didn’t _tell_ me there was a cure. You didn’t tell me there was a way out.”

“I’ve tried to ‘cure’ vampires before,” she said. “My partner, years ago…he got turned, and begged me to not give him any blood. We kept him in a cell while I hunted the monster who did it to him.” She shook her head, looking suddenly old and haggard. “I didn’t get her in time. And my partner…it was a horrible end. Agonizing. Without dignity. I wasn’t going to do that to you. I knew it wasn’t likely we’d get Amon in the next few days. I tried to give you the best chance at a life I could.”

Tahno wiped at the tears. He wondered what he’d have chosen, given this information in advance.

He’d have chosen to wait.

At least until there was no other hope. He’d have at least given it a _chance_. No matter how much it hurt.

He picked up the opened bottle of blood, shoving it at her. “We’re not getting Amon in the next few days either, most likely, and we don’t have a secure place to hold you. Drink.”

Beifong started to reach for the bottle, her hand trembling. He saw her fangs behind her grimace. “No,” she said, getting up and stumbling away from him. “I’ve made my choice.”

Tahno stood up too, shaking with rage. “I can’t believe you expect me to respect your choice when you didn’t give me one.”

“If I become a danger to the Avatar, then just stake me,” she said. “But I will not drink that.”

“I could hold you down and force you,” Tahno said. “You’re new. I’m stronger.”

“You’d be no better than Amon.”

“You made sure of that, didn’t you,” Tahno said angrily. But she was right—he didn’t have the heart to restrain her and pour the blood down her throat. “I don’t even have to force you, though,” he said. “I could just walk away.” He set the open bottle down, taking a few steps back. “How long do you think you’d last? I’d find it impressive if you made it an hour.”

“Don’t,” she said. She fell to her knees, red tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for making your choice for you.” She looked up at him, pleading. “There were some cops who liked to tell new vampires they had a chance at being cured. Sell them on it, pressure them into it. This went on when I was a younger officer, before I became chief. I’ll never forget their screams. I don’t think we saved even one. That’s how we dealt with the ‘vampire problem.’ I thought it was cruel. I didn’t want to give you false hope, trick you into making an uninformed decision. I thought you’d suffered enough at Amon’s hands.”

Tahno laughed bitterly. “Suffered enough? If you think this life is so free of _suffering_ , then drink. You have no reason not to, right?” His voice became cruel, mocking. “Apparently hope is only false when it’s someone else’s hope.”

“Please,” she said. “I know what I’m facing. I know how bad my chances are. But please let me make this one choice. For the choices that were taken away from us both.”

Tahno picked up the open bottle, twisted the cap back on, and took the two others as well. “You’d better stop crying,” he said. “You’ll have even less time.”

Beifong nodded stiffly, painfully. “Thank you,” she said.

Tahno started walking away, towards the stairs. “I’ll just take care of these, then.”

“Don’t let anyone else down here,” she said. “Promise me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell them.”

“You’ll probably have to tie me up before the night is up,” she said. “I don’t know how long I’ll be…lucid. Do you have any silver?”

“No,” he said, “but I wouldn’t worry too much. Without blood you’ll get weak,” he said. “Even rope should do it.”

“Don’t underestimate the strength of desperation and madness,” Beifong said.


	5. Chapter 5

Tahno explained the situation to the others between forcing down gulps of the cold, chemically treated blood.

“How long until it gets…bad?” Korra asked.

“You’re asking based on personal experience?” Tahno said. “It’s already bad. And it’s going to get a lot worse.” He finished the second bottle, and opened the third.

“You sure you shouldn’t save some of that?” Asami asked.

He glared at her, sharp, feral, and saw her take a step back. “Okay, fine,” she said. “I just thought, you know, if Beifong changed her mind….”

“She’s not going to get the chance to,” Korra said. “We can’t wait for the United Forces. I’m going to kill Amon tonight.”

“I’ll come with you,” Mako said.

“You don’t have to do this,” Korra said.

“Yes, I do. Tahno, I’m going to need that Equalist uniform.”

Tahno lowered the bottle of blood, half full. “Funny, because I’m going to be needing it tonight too.”

“You’re not coming,” Mako said.

“Are you kidding? Killing Amon? I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“You’d just get in the way,” Mako said. “You’d be useless against Amon.”

“ _Useless_ ,” Tahno repeated. “You’re the ones planning to attack a vampire at night. Do you think he’ll be considerate enough to leave the light on for you?”

Mako made a sudden burst of flame and shoved it right in Tahno’s face, making him stumble back quickly. “I’m not worried about the dark. Bending is where we’ll have the advantage. Amon can’t bend. You’ve just got a weaker version of the same powers he has. Not to mention, he’s the one who turned you. Who knows what kind of power he might have over you.”

Tahno stiffened at the thought of Amon having some kind of supernatural hold on him. He had no idea if that was how it worked or not, and it wasn’t like he’d seen Amon since— _don’t think about that._ “The only power Amon has over me is the ability to make me feel seething hatred,” he said. He took another sip of the blood, grimacing. “You cannot even _imagine_ how much I want him dead. But…you’re right about one thing. I can’t kill him by myself. I know that. I can still help get you in there. Both of you,” he said, looking at Mako, then Korra.

“Fine, both of you come along,” Korra said. “We can get another uniform once we’re there. Grab something you can use as a stake.”

Asami laughed, breaking the tension. “I love how Korra says she’s going on a crazy suicide mission, and the two of you are at each other’s throats over who gets to come with. You really know how to make a girl feel special.”

Mako sighed. “Must you read into _everything_? This is about saving Beifong.”

“Also revenge,” Tahno said.

“I know that,” Asami said, looking at Mako. “Things may not have worked out between us, but I still care about you, so take care of yourself, all right?”

“You too. And I’m sorry for how messed up things got.”

Asami kissed his cheek, then turned to Tahno, who was just shaking the last drops of blood onto his tongue. “You take care of yourself too,” she said, and hugged him.

Tahno was too taken aback to even respond properly. It struck him that no sane person would hug a vampire with fangs out and blood still in their mouth, especially one who was shaking out the last few drops like they were not at all satiated. Or they would at least _ask_ first, and approach with some caution. But Asami had treated him like he’d been drinking lychee juice or something. It was incredibly stupid of her, but it made him feel almost normal.

 _Don’t cry_.

Asami kissed his cheek too, and he was relieved it was just the cheek. If he did ever feel comfortable kissing on the mouth again, it would be some time when his fangs weren’t out and his unfortunate partner wouldn’t be able to taste some stranger’s blood on his lips.

“Hey, what do you know,” Asami said. “You can _blush_.”

“Can I really,” he murmured. “Must be all the blood.”

“Really,” Asami said. “I thought it was the kiss.”

Mako handed Tahno a stake. “Are we _going_?” he asked. “Because you can still stay behind and flirt with my ex-girlfriend if you want.”

Tahno took the stake. “She’ll be here when I get back.”

“Tahno, can I have a word?” Korra said.

“Sure,” Tahno replied, following her into a different room. Korra closed the door.

“This is kind of important, so sorry to have to ask this, but…what Mako said about Amon possibly having some kind of power over you, is there any chance it’s true?”

Tahno looked down, unable to meet her piercing gaze. “I don’t know. I really don’t. But….”

“Yes?”

“If he does, and I get in the way…stake me. Just do it. I don’t even care what you have to do. Just get him for me.”

“ _I_ care,” Korra said. “Maybe you shouldn’t come.”

Tahno shook his head. “I’m not really expecting him to have power over me, really. When I think of him, there’s only hatred. Okay, and fear. Lots of fear. But no…loyalty or anything like that.”

“Okay,” Korra said. “I hope you’re right.”

-

“He’s here,” Tahno said.

“What, you can sense him?” Korra asked.

“Yeah, with my eyes.” He pointed to the roof, where Amon was stepping into an airship. “We’re too late, though.”

“Are you sure that’s him?”

“Positive. Unless he’s dressing someone else up in his mask.”

“I can’t believe we just missed him,” Korra said.

“Maybe if you hadn’t spent so much time arguing and trying to pick up Asami, we would have made it in time,” Mako said.

“Really?” Tahno said. “Because I wasn’t the one who needed _three_ bathroom breaks.”

“Shut up. I was nervous.”

Korra groaned. “I really shouldn’t have brought both of you, should I?”

“If you were only going to bring one of us, it would have been me, right?” Tahno asked.

“Idiot, it would have been me. You can’t bend.”

“She can bend for the both of us, can’t you, Korra?”

“At this rate, I’m starting to wish I’d come here _alone_ ,” she said, glaring at both of them. “Can you both just shut up and behave? We’re doing this for Beifong.”

“Well, I’m doing it for myself, actually,” Tahno said.

“Come on. He was here, so he might be back. Or maybe we can even find information on where he sleeps.”

“At the very least, maybe we’ll get an extra uniform,” Mako said.

They found a place to sneak into the building, and climbed up to hide in the attic.

“Uh, we’re not alone up here,” Mako said.

“No shit,” Tahno muttered.

On the other side of the attic were bars, beyond which a man crouched, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

“Who’s there?” Korra asked, making a flame to see by. The shadows of the bars wobbled in the firelight, seeming to take on a life of their own.

“Don’t recognize me, Avatar? Well, I suppose I have changed since we last met.”

“ _Tarrlok_?” She crossed the room to his bars, putting her hands on them. Mako followed close behind, but Tahno didn’t come as close. Even from this distance, he could sense the bars were silver.

“I don’t suppose you’re here to rescue me,” he said bitterly.

“We had no idea you were here,” Korra said. “Are there other prisoners on the island?”

“No. I’m the only one.”

“And what makes you so special?”

“I’m Amon’s brother.”

Korra and Mako both gasped, and Tahno listened intently.

“Amon is from the Northern Water Tribe. He used to be a waterbender and a bloodbender, like I was.”

“So he’s also Yakone’s son,” Korra said.

“Wait, Tarrlok was Yakone’s son?” Tahno said. “You neglected to mention that before.”

“Yeah, Aang showed me visions of Yakone when Tarrlok kidnapped me,” Korra said. “But…well, you might already know this, but Avatar Aang was completely against killing. When he fought Yakone, he ended up having to use lethal force to save his own life and protect his friends. So he did the only thing he could to save him. He had him made into a vampire.”

“Same thing he did with Ozai,” Mako said.

“And whatever possessed him to think that was a good idea?” Tahno said. “Oh, let’s just make the most dangerous people in the world into _vampires_ , that’ll solve all our problems.”

“Well, it did remove their bending,” Korra said. “And made them vulnerable to silver. I guess he figured it was more controllable, and better than a death sentence.”

“It wasn’t controllable, though,” Tarrlok said. “My father escaped from prison, through his gang connections. He fled back to his family—to us. My mother lived in the Northern Water Tribe. Her marriage to my father was arranged, and he’d visited her rarely, but enough to give her children—myself, and my brother Noatak, who was three years older than me.”

“Amon,” Korra said.

“Yes.”

“Did you know about this all along?” Mako asked.

“No. Not until he bit me.”

“So wait—you two were conceived before Yakone became a vampire?”

“Obviously,” Tarrlok said.

“So how did your brother become Amon?”

“I was seven when our father returned, and Noatak was ten. At first we were thrilled to have our father back. Noatak only had a few memories of how he was before, and I didn’t remember him at all. Just the idea of having a father…he seemed like a hero to us.

“That joy was short-lived, though. My father was hungry, always hungry. He fed from my mother, and from Noatak and myself.

“Noatak and I had already discovered we were waterbenders, and were being trained by our uncle. Our father hated the sight of us bending. It reminded him of everything he’d lost. He would hurt us if he caught us doing it. All our joy at being waterbenders turned to pain and shame.

“My brother, even then, wanted everything to be fair and tried to look after those weaker than him. He took it on himself to defend me and our mother, which mostly meant taking the brunt of our father’s hunger. Some days he could barely stand and still insisted our father drink from him rather than one of us. And he continued practicing his waterbending in secret. One day, when I was eleven and he was fourteen, he told me he’d discovered a secret technique, one that could save us. He started to teach me.

“Bloodbending is much more difficult to perform in the day, but that was when Noatak wanted to practice, so that our father would be asleep. I wasn’t as talented as him, though. He had to teach me at night instead. And that’s how we were caught.

“Noatak tried to bloodbend our father to protect me, but it’s much more difficult to bloodbend a vampire, and he was weakened from all the blood our father took from him. Our father bit him, and I…I couldn’t save him. I remember after he was done with him, holding Noatak’s body and crying. But the worst was still to come. Because a night from then, Noatak woke up. And he was hungry.

“That was when I ran away. I didn’t want to leave my mother, but she begged me to go. I realized if I didn’t, I was going to end up like them.” Tarrlok laughed, weak and bitter. “And here I am after all. It seems I couldn’t run far enough. Or we just didn’t run soon enough. I should have gotten Noatak out of there while I still could. Even after he was turned. We could have made it. I shouldn’t have been afraid of him. Instead I left him there, and our father poisoned his mind along with his blood.”

“That’s one of the saddest stories I’ve ever heard,” Korra said.

“It certainly explains why you hate vampires so much,” Tahno said. “My condolences. It’s not easy, is it.”

“No,” Tarrlok said, “it isn’t. Avatar Korra,” he said, turning to her, “I am truly sorry for what I did to you. I thought I was better than my father. But it seems that even running away from him, I was only retracing his tracks. And Noatak told me he killed our father. But it seems even then he couldn’t get away from the curses our father left him with. I think he really believes in his rhetoric. He’s even come to hate bending as our father did.”

“Do you know where Amon—where Noatak sleeps?” Korra asked, leaning forward urgently and clasping the silver bars.

But Tarrlok shook his head. “He’s very secretive. He could even be sleeping on an airship.”

Korra nodded. “We saw him get on one.”

“I do know he’s planning a rally tomorrow night at the Arena. I think something big might be going down then.”

Korra hung her head. “We’ll never catch him tonight, though. I can’t believe we missed our chance.”

“I’m sorry,” Tarrlok said. He got up slowly, stepping towards the silver bars, and put his hand gently on Korra’s hand. Tahno winced in sympathy for his proximity to the silver.

“No,” Korra said, “Thank you for all your help.” She started to pull back, then hesitated. “We can’t just leave him here,” she said.

“Is taking him with us a good idea?” Mako asked.

“No, it isn’t,” Tarrlok said. “I appreciate the offer, but…I feel safer here, behind these bars. After what my father and Noatak have done….”

“They can’t force you to be like them,” Tahno said. “You still make your own choices about what sort of person you want to be.”

Tarrlok looked at him from behind the bars, and it seemed that the distance between them was more than the several feet and silver bars that separated them. Tahno saw the reddish-brown stains on his collar and sleeves. He’d been crying before. “I wish you luck with that,” Tarrlok said.

“Have you had human blood yet?” Korra asked.

“Why do you ask?” Tarrlok said.

“He has,” Tahno said.

Korra looked at him. “How do you know?”

“Because he’s too calm, for one thing. And for another, when you asked, he looked ashamed.”

“Oh,” Korra said. “Never mind, then. I’m sorry. It was just an idea.” She gave Tarrlok one last guilty look. “I wish there was something more I could do.”

“Just…put an end to this sad story,” Tarrlok said.

They turned and left him there, climbing back down the ladder. As they entered the hallway, they came upon a single Equalist. The Equalist spotted them, and the three of them went on the offensive, trying to silence him before he could call attention to them.

Tahno sensed that he was a vampire, and approached with some trepidation, but to his pleasant surprise, found he was at least as strong as him, possibly a little stronger.

“What the—I’m on your side,” the Equalist said, evidently fooled by their uniforms. “Wait—that’s my uniform, isn’t it? You’re the people from before!”

Tahno grabbed the vampire by the collar and held him against the wall, pulling his mask off with his free hand.

It was the Equalist he’d bitten the night before.

He glanced at Korra, and who obviously recognized him too.

“What are you standing around for, take his uniform,” Mako said.

Tahno turned back and stared at the new vampire in shock. “They _turned_ you?”

“Well, what did you expect them to do, dropping me off in Amon’s infirmary without most of my blood?” He grinned. “I really can’t thank you enough. I _never_ thought I was going to get that promotion. Usually you have to earn it. I really lucked out, thanks to you.”

Tahno gaped at him. “You’re _happy_ about it?”

“Well, yeah, why do you think I joined Amon? Things got a little more _equal_ for me yesterday, huh?”

Tahno staggered backwards.

He was a murderer.

His words to Tarrlok suddenly felt so hollow.

“Wait, Tahno killed someone?” Mako said. “And you didn’t think it was relevant to tell me why?”

“It was an accident,” Tahno said softly.

“What, you just _accidentally_ drank someone’s blood? Because you know, that’s never happened to me.”

“It wasn’t _all_ my fault,” Tahno said. “He never would have bled out if Korra hadn’t kicked me.”

“Yeah, because I’m responsible for the fact that your fangs were in his jugular,” Korra shot back.

“Hey, guys, you don’t need to fight over this,” the Equalist said. “I’m happy, really. My name’s Heng, by the way.” He held out his hand to shake, but Tahno just stared at it blankly.

“If you’re so grateful,” Korra said, “you could give us your uniform and pretend this never happened.”

“Mm, I dunno,” Heng said. “I mean, I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“Well, if you don’t, we’re just going to take it by force.”

Heng laughed. “Well, if you put it _that_ way.”

They got the uniform from him and started heading back. Tahno barely registered any of it. He saw Heng’s face, and remembered the taste of his blood.

“I still wish you’d told me about that,” Tahno overheard Mako saying to Korra.

“I just didn’t want you freaking out. You were having a hard enough time getting along.”

“Hey, I’ve been doing my part to make nice. I even let him bite me. But if he’s got a problem where he’s biting people he’s not supposed to….”

Korra sighed. “Yeah. I know.” A pause. “It really was kind of my fault too. I didn’t think when I kicked him.”

“That isn’t your fault. No one could blame you. You were trying to protect a human life.”

Tahno couldn’t help but hear it, but he tried not to listen. All he wanted to do was curl up somewhere dark and quiet and not think about any of this.

They reached the alley, and Korra said something about General Iroh coming soon, and that they should get a few hours of sleep while they could. Tahno went to the door to the basement, but ended up just sitting in front of it, not wanting to go down there.

He didn’t think he could hold Beifong’s hand and help her through this. Not if she got to get better and he didn’t.

He didn’t even deserve his humanity anymore. He’d killed someone. _Probably the first of many. How long do vampires live, again? You’ve barely even started and you’ve already taken a life._

“I take it it didn’t go well?”

“Asami,” Tahno said, looking up sullenly. “No, it…it didn’t.”

“I know you really wanted to kill Amon, but we’ll have other chances soon.”

He continued to look up at her, miserable. He didn’t want to tell her and see that kind expression harden into hatred. But she’d hear it anyway, from Mako or Korra. “I killed someone, Asami.”

“What?” Asami said, a shadow of mistrust crossing her features.

He explained what had happened.

Asami sat down next to him, and put her hand over his. Her brow was furrowed, and he thought that perhaps she hadn’t made up her mind about him yet. “Why did you bite him?” she asked.

 _I don’t know. I wanted to. I was hungry. I could smell his blood. I didn’t think anyone would stop me._ “I… I thought he deserved it.”

“Do you still think that?”

“Well, I didn’t mean for him to _die_. That part was an accident. I never meant….”

“Do you think he deserved to be bitten, though? For fighting on the wrong side?”

Tahno opened his mouth, then closed it again. “I…I don’t know.”

“You don’t _know_? At least have some kind of opinion on it.”

“Please…I don’t want you to hate me too.”

“So just tell me the truth.” Silence. “Do you think if I hear the truth then I’ll hate you? Do you think I _should_ hate you?”

He pulled his hand away from hers, and curled it under his belly, folding himself tighter, his forehead on his knees.

“Do you want me to go?” Asami asked.

Tahno shook his head, not looking up.

“So…say something.”

“I don’t know what I can say,” he said. “I…I wasn’t thinking clearly. But I never am, anymore. I wanted it. And I hated him. For being an Equalist, for helping Amon do what he did to me. So there just wasn’t much there to fight it. And…and I liked it. Is that what you want to hear? I feel awful because he died, but if it had worked out how I’d planned and I’d just gotten my taste without killing him…I’d do it again.”

“So you’re saying you do think he deserved it.”

“No, I’m saying I don’t _care_ if he did or not. Actually, the way he tells it I did him a favor, so maybe _he_ thinks he deserved it, in the good way.”

“So you did him a favor, then.”

“Of _course_ not. He’s an idiot.” He finally did look at her, just peeking with one eye, ready to go back to hiding if he saw something he didn’t like. He couldn’t quite read her. She looked sad, troubled. Sad for him? Sad because he couldn’t be saved?

“Why are you asking me all this, Asami?” he said. “It’s like…you’re trying to see if I’m an irredeemable monster or not, but I really can’t think of the answer that results in _not_.”

“So if you could, you’d just lie?”

A weak smile. “I’d…try to convince myself it was the truth. I don’t want to be an irredeemable monster.”

“I’m just scared I’ll end up making excuses for you,” she said. “It’s a flaw of mine. Even with everything my father has done…sometimes I just miss him so much, I think, _well maybe_ …. Maybe I could see it from his point of view after all, and then I’d have my dad back.”

“But you wouldn’t, right?”

She shook her head. “I need to be stronger than that.” She moved a little closer to him. “It starts off so easy. You made a mistake. You seem pretty torn up about it. Maybe it was a bit ambiguous. Maybe it wasn’t your fault. But since I’ve forgiven this one, it makes it easier to forgive the next one. Maybe the next one will go a little further. And maybe one day, years from now, I’m defending someone who’s doing terrible things. My father made it easier on me. He never told me anything. I didn’t get to watch him slip, so I couldn’t slip with him.”

“So you think that’s what I’m doing. Sliding down the path that leads to…that.”

“I don’t know, Tahno. Are you?”

He wavered a moment before speaking, the pressure of the tears he was holding back almost too much. “I don’t want to be,” he said. “How…how do I get off that path, if that’s where I am?”

“Well, don’t kill anyone else.”

Tahno laughed, a broken, choking sort of laugh. “Oh, is that all.” He felt the tears break, and rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Tahno, your eyes, are you okay?” Asami said in alarm.

“Wha—oh, oh,” he muttered, looking at the reddish smear on the back of his hand. “Yeah. It’s just tears. They’re just…like that now.”

“It looks painful.”

“It actually doesn’t hurt,” Tahno said. “You saw me cry before, in the sewage pipe.”

“I thought you were dying or something.”

“Well, it _felt_ like it….” He rubbed at his eyes again, and grimaced at the mess it made. “I hate how it gets all over everything. I just hate…this…all of this….” The tears were coming harder now. “I don’t know if I can do this. I…I can’t, I just don’t know what else to….” He squeezed his eyes shut. _Amon killed you already. Why are you so scared to die?_ “I’m…I’m such a coward.”

Suddenly, he felt Asami’s arms around him, pulling him into an embrace. He relaxed into it, leaning on her. “I’m always crying on pretty girls,” he mumbled. He felt her hand stroking his back, and tried to take deep breaths to ease the sobs.

Eventually he relaxed, his head resting on her shoulder, breathing in her scent. He wasn’t sure exactly when the fangs had come out. He was too tired to fight them. “Asami,” he said, “can I bite you?”

“No, not right now,” she said.

He swallowed hard. “O-okay. Sorry. Didn’t mean to—”

“No, you’re okay. Doesn’t hurt to ask, right?”

“I can’t believe I…what kind of thing is that to say to someone. You must think that’s all I like you for….” He started to pull back. “If you want, I can go….”

She pulled him back gently. “If you feel you need to, that’s okay, but I’m fine with you staying here a bit.”

He placed his head back on her shoulder, gingerly, as though he were afraid of startling her off. Her hand touched his cheek, brushing over the scabbed and hardened teartracks. She rubbed them with her thumb, making them flake off, and leaned over slightly to kiss his cheek. He felt her heart beat faster, and pulled back, leaning against the door.

“Can I kiss you?” she asked.

He’d avoided looking at her while talking, before, which had been easy when resting on her shoulder. He didn’t want to part his lips and show his fangs now, so he just shook his head.

“Okay,” she said. “I don’t want to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

Tahno got up, averting his gaze from her. “Didn’t you just break up with Mako?”

“Hey, at least I _waited_ to break up before thinking of kissing someone else.”

“I…I really don’t think this is a good idea for me right now,” he said. “For either of us, really. Though I shudder to think who you’ll end up with next, if this is your taste in men.” _Besides, I only get hard when I feed, how is_ that _going to work?_ he wondered to himself.

Asami sighed. “If there’s a pattern between you and Mako, it’s that I felt like both of you needed me.”

“Oh, I do, Asami, I do,” he said, and turning back towards her, kissed her cheek gently. “You should go to bed. General Iroh will be arriving in a few hours.”

“Okay. Should we come wake you up?”

“No. Don’t go down there,” Tahno said. “I wouldn’t be much help anyway, so you might as well leave me behind. I have the feeling the real fight with Amon’s going to be tonight.”

“All right. Good night, then.”

Tahno tried to smile at her, tight-lipped. _Unlikely._ “Yeah, you too,” he said.

He went downstairs, the steps creaking under his feet. Beifong turned to him on the mattress. She didn’t look like she’d been getting much rest.

“You should tie me up,” she rasped.

“You sure about that? You should be getting body aches by now. Being stuck in one position’s just going to make it worse.”

“I’ll have to tolerate it.” She held up a length of rope. It must’ve been lying around in the basement somewhere. “Chains would be better, but…”

Tahno sighed, taking the rope in one hand, and grabbed her wrist in the other. He held his wrist against hers, and began wrapping the rope around it. “Help me out here,” he said. “S’hard to tie a good knot with one hand.”

“What are you doing?”

“Keeping an eye on you. You’re not going to get this untied without waking me. At least you’ll be able to move around and stuff.”

Beifong helped him tie the knot with her free hand in silence. They laid themselves down awkwardly on the old mattress.

Tahno felt her shift next to him. “I’m thirsty,” she said, hoarse. “Do you think I could have some water?”

“Water won’t help you,” Tahno said. “You know, if you had blood, you might be in some shape to help us take down Amon. Before he does this to someone else.”

Beifong groaned, almost like a growl. “You don’t stop trying, do you.”

“Well, after the _consideration_ you showed me, I should think it’s only fair.”

“I don’t seem to recall you caring all that much about what was fair.”

“Right, right, bring pro-bending into this,” Tahno said. “You know, my career that I’ll _never be able to do again._ ” He turned over, his arm twisted behind him, still bound to hers. It’d cut the circulation off in his hand, if he’d had any.

He could feel her cold body next to his, pressed up against his back. She was motionless, not even breathing. Of course. He was covered in Asami’s scent. But despite this stillness, she didn’t feel restful at all to him. She was more like a snake poised for a strike, every muscle frozen, waiting for a release that never came.

Tahno did manage to slip into an uneasy sleep. When he woke hours later, he didn’t think she’d moved. He turned around to face her. Her eyes were open, red-brown crusts around them where the occasional tear had slipped through her defenses. Better than he could have done. He’d have soaked the mattress.

Haltingly, he put his free arm around her, and pulled her close. He was probably the wrong person to be comforting someone like her. She must have seen him as a child before all this happened, and a bratty one at that. And he still did resent her for making his choice for him—he didn’t know if he could ever let go of that, really. But right now she needed _someone_ , and it would have been inhuman to deny her.

He wasn’t even sure if he was helping, but he felt her relax just enough to let go of the breath she’d probably been holding all night. He slept again, deeper, and hoped she slept with him.

-

He woke at the sounds of Korra and her entourage returning, and they did not sound victorious.

Tahno listened for several minutes, only catching part of the conversation. Eventually he sat up, and started undoing the knot tying him to Beifong.

“You’re leaving me here.”

“Unless you want to come with.” A wry smile. “Didn’t think so. Someone’s got to kill Amon for you, right?” He pulled her hands behind her back and started binding them.

“Tighter,” she hissed.

Grimacing, Tahno pulled the rope tighter. When his work was done, he paused, noticing a trail of blood going down her neck. He touched it cautiously. It was still wet. It had a foul smell, worse than his own blood or Amon’s.

“Your ear’s bleeding,” he said.

“My body’s starting to break down,” she said. “Dammit. I thought I’d have more time.”

“I went longer between the blood you gave me and the next time I got any, and I didn’t bleed from the ears,” Tahno said.

“My body’s in an unstable state,” Beifong said. “The transformation isn’t complete. Amon’s blood is all that’s keeping me ‘alive,’ and I haven’t started producing my own yet.”

“I see. Would my blood buy you more time?”

Beifong shook her head. “Doesn’t work like that. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“I’m going to go see what’s going on upstairs. Try not to…melt.”

She nodded stoically, her eyes staring off into space, her back stiff.

-

When he got out into the alley, Korra looked around at him. “How is she?” she asked.

What did she want him to say? _She’s dying, but she’s taking it like a champ?_ “How do you think?”

Korra winced. “How much time?”

“Let’s just kill Amon tonight.”

A man in Fire Nation regalia said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He had an injured arm, and Tahno had smelled the blood before he’d seen him.

“Who’s this chump?” Tahno asked.

The man straightened himself up, glowering at Tahno. “General Iroh of the United Forces.”

“Where’s your army?” Tahno asked.

“They ran into some trouble,” Korra said, and explained the situation. Amon had been prepared for their arrival, and they’d barely made it out alive.

“Great, so you’re stuck skulking in this alley with us, General,” Tahno said. “That was worth waiting days for.”

“I’ve sent a wire to General Bumi, he should be here in—”

“We don’t have time for more waiting,” Tahno said. “And Beifong certainly doesn’t. If we’re going to wait, let me know so I can go back down there and stake her, because I’m not making her die like that the slow way.”

“As it happens, we’re not waiting,” Korra said. “First off, we need to take down their airfield.”

“I thought we were going with assassination?” Tahno said.

“He’ll have intercepted our wire,” Iroh said. “It wasn’t on a secure line. He’ll think we’re waiting. If we strike the airfield, that’ll confirm that. Besides, Amon being grounded can only be good news for us.”

“General Iroh will go to the airfield with Asami and Bolin,” Korra said. “Mako and I are going to go over plans for the arena tonight, try to find any weak points or good places to attack.”

“Great. What do I do?” Tahno asked.

“Whatever you think is best,” Korra said.

Tahno thought of Beifong, lying alone in the dark. He thought that watching someone die had to be one of the most helpless feelings in the world, and he was practically becoming an expert on those. “Okay. Airfield. Let’s go.”

“It’s kind of…bright,” Asami said.

“If your dad can handle it, then I will too,” he said.

Their goodbyes were quicker this time. He saw Bolin embrace Mako and Korra, and Korra came up to him. “Watch yourself out there, all right?”

He wasn’t entirely sure if she meant to avoid getting hurt, or avoid hurting anyone else. Maybe both. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll meet up with you at the arena, if all goes well.”

“We’ll have our masks on. How will you find us?”

He couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Look who you’re asking. I’ll find you, don’t worry. Here’s hoping no one else there remembers your scent.” He turned to Mako, getting an idea. “Say, Mako, I’ll trade you my Equalist goggles for yours.”

“What? Why, they’re the same,” Mako said.

“I don’t think so. Have you actually tried yours on?”

“I hadn’t gotten the chance yet,” Mako said.

Tahno examined his fingernails. “Go ahead. I’ll wait.”

Mako fidgeted nervously under Tahno’s gaze, and tried on his glasses. “Can hardly see a thing,” he said.

Tahno held his hand out. “That’s because they’re not made for human eyes.”

They made the trade, and Tahno fitted the goggles on. “Oh, I _like_ these,” he said. He couldn’t see as well as he could in the dark, of course, but it made the light less painful. Before they went out into the sun, he pulled the mask over his head too, for protection. It was the most comfortable thing he’d worn since the change.

Not like he should be surprised at that. But, like Asami, he had no compunctions about using Equalist technology against them.


	6. Chapter 6

“I wonder why there’s fenceposts but no fence?” Asami said, as they walked through the posts.

Tahno felt a strange sort of humming through his chest, not entirely pleasant, and heard Asami, Bolin and Iroh hit the ground. “Oh crap,” he muttered.

He grabbed Asami by the armpits and hauled her back a few feet. “Hey, wake up,” he said. He heard a rustling, and pulled her back further into some bushes, crouching over her protectively.

Through the foliage, he saw Equalist sentries find the rest of the group, and resisted the urge to swear. He couldn’t take them all, not by himself. There was nothing he could do as he saw them dragged away.

He waited until Asami came to. “What happened?” she asked.

“Electric fence,” Tahno said.

She rubbed her eyes, looking a bit confused. “You seem unaffected.”

“Yeah, I think we have an answer as to whether your glove will work on me,” he said.

“Oh,” she said, and sat up. “Where are the others?”

“Captured.” He flinched under her accusing stare. “There was nothing I could do. I barely got _you_ out of there in time.”

Fear flashed in her eyes. “We have to get to them. Before they….”

“I know what you’re thinking, but it seems unlikely. The only person in the movement we’ve seen turn anyone so far is Amon. He probably reserves that power as leader—if just anyone did it, it could get away from him too quickly, anyone could make their own army. He’s probably not here, so they should be safe for the moment.”

Asami didn’t look entirely convinced, but she calmed slightly. “Come on,” Tahno said, helping her up. “Now, how do we get you through that fence?”

“The wires should be on the inside,” she said. “Maybe buried.”

Tahno stepped through the posts, shuddering a bit at the uncomfortable feeling, and found a wire going from one of the posts into the ground. He snapped it with his hands, and tested it by walking through the posts again. “Seems safe,” he said.

They slipped down to the main building, and Tahno pulled his hood and goggles off. The light was kept comfortably dim, and besides, he wasn’t fooling much of anyone with Asami with him. “Do you smell Iroh and Bolin?” Asami asked.

Tahno shook his head. “There’s a lot going on here.”

“Iroh’s arm was injured. You can’t pick up on the blood?”

“I didn’t want to alarm you, but…I smell a lot of blood here. I’m sorry, I can’t pick out Iroh’s.”

“That’s really reassuring,” Asami said.

They came to a room lined with coolers. Tahno unlatched the first one and opened it. It was lined with bottles of blood.

“There’s enough in here to feed an army,” Asami said.

 _Or me for a day,_ Tahno thought. His fangs were out, and he grabbed the first bottle, tearing the lid off.

“Take it with you, we don’t have time,” Asami said.

“We can make the time,” Tahno said. “Look, I’m stronger fed. Considering that glove of yours does is only useful against vampires if what you meant to do is tickle them, you should want me at full strength.” He chugged the rest of the bottle in a hurry. _Oh spirits that stuff is awful_ , he thought, grabbing the next. The taste wasn’t intolerable, but the cold way it slid down his throat nearly gagged him.

“Well, do it quickly, then,” Asami said, checking the hallway.

“Mm tryin’,” Tahno said, with a mouthful of blood. “Ugh. See how fast _you_ could drink this stuff. It’s about as bad as you’d expect, and being a vampire doesn’t help much.” In fact, he wondered if it made it harder. Humans generally had no problems drinking anything cold, but it went against whatever instincts governed his feeding now. Vampires were predators, not scavengers. They weren’t meant to eat carrion.

Asami watched him drink, her eyes growing wider as the empty bottles piled up around him. He must’ve had over a dozen when he finally slowed on the last one, the blood spilling from his mouth and back into the bottle. His head lolled back and his fangs slipped back in.

“Tahno? Are you okay?”

“Okay?” he repeated. “I’m _fantastic_.” He got to his feet, so quickly that he saw Asami jump a little. Springing to her side, he lifted her hair and sniffed her neck.

“What are you doing?” she asked, alarmed.

“Testing it,” he said, and stepped back, laughing. “I…just now, I didn’t want to rip your throat out.” He looked at her, still aware of her scent and finding it pleasant, but no longer struggling against the urge that had been his constant companion since Amon had bitten him. Just to be in her presence without wanting to behave like a monster seemed such a _simple_ pleasure, something he had taken for granted before but never would again. He felt the tears well up in his eyes.

“Idiot…you’ll weep it all out again,” she said, dabbing at his face with her handkerchief. Standing this close to him, she brushed up against his erection, and blushed. “I guess you weren’t lying about that happening every time.”

“Would I lie to you, Asami?” He laughed through his tears. “I can’t believe it. I’m not hungry. I didn’t think it was _possible_.”

“I didn’t think it was possible that you could even hold all that blood,” Asami said, looking over the empty bottles. “That’s more than even fits in a human body, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I’d say it’s about as much as two big people,” he said. “Or three little ones. Wonder where it all goes.” Then again, Amon had managed to drain him and his two teammates to the point of death, and he was a fairly small man.

“So when you bit me before…you could have taken every drop I had, and still been hungry.”

Tahno felt a little shiver at that. “Yeah. Probably. But I wouldn’t do that.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean—I know you wouldn’t. It just made me feel kind of…inadequate. I thought I was helping you.”

“You were, though,” he said. “You have no idea, really…how much better _something_ is than _nothing_.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. It was just a quick peck, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d kissed a girl’s _cheek_. He must have been ten or something.

“Now, isn’t that sweet,” a male voice said, and both Tahno and Asami whirled around.

Hiroshi Sato stood in the doorway, blocking the only exit.

Tahno reached for the stake tucked into his belt, but felt Asami’s hand on his arm. He met her eyes, hesitating. She didn’t need to say anything. He understood. Whatever this man had done, she still didn’t want to see her father murdered in front of her.

“I see you’ve found my pantry,” Hiroshi said. “You didn’t have to sneak in, you know. Any friend of my daughter’s is welcome to it. And Amon does not refuse any vampire in need. He is not a monster, after all.”

“Do the people who ‘donated’ this blood agree?” Asami asked.

Hiroshi shrugged. “None of them died of it, which is more than can be said for a vampire who cannot get blood. Besides, it didn’t seem to stop your friend here. Is he a monster too? Or is it just different when it’s someone you care about?”

“Tahno had nothing to do with collecting that blood,” Asami said, “which is more than can be said for you. Have you forgotten that people you love are human? I’m still human. Mom was human. Would you have done this to her?”

Hiroshi scowled at this. “I have not forgotten,” he said. “Nor have I forgotten that it was humans that killed her, and would have killed me as well. If not for Amon, you would have been an orphan, Asami. Every memory we have together after your mother’s death is thanks to him.” He hesitated, doubt in his eyes. “And still you stand against me…was I that bad a father?”

“Dad…I stand against any organization that turns people against their will to make examples of them, harvests blood non-consensually, and effectively makes it illegal to be a bender. We have Lin Beifong. We know what you’ve done to her. Is that what you did to the Councilmembers too? Chief Saikhan?” She shook her head. “If you can’t see why these things are wrong, then the man I thought was my father really is dead.”

“Asami….” Hiroshi said, then turned to Tahno. “I’d like to speak with my daughter alone, would you mind?”

Tahno thought that was a terrible idea, but glanced at Asami to see what her thoughts on it were. Asami firmly took his hand.

“I think she wants me to stay,” he said.

“I’m not going to ask a second time,” he said, raising his arm. Something shot out of the brace on his arm, wrapping around Tahno’s neck.

Tahno cried out, clawing at it. Silver wire. A small enough amount, probably shielded from Hiroshi inside the bracer, but effective when aimed at the right area. He staggered, weakened, and Asami reached to help him, when Hiroshi rushed at them. He saw Asami try to block him, even a brief flash of electricity, but she was pushed aside, and Hiroshi gathered the fabric of Tahno’s shirt in his fists and held him off the ground.

“Dad, _stop_ ,” Asami called out.

Hiroshi carried Tahno to the opened cooler, and threw him in roughly, breaking one of the bottles of blood. “You want my blood so much, _help yourself_ ,” he snarled, slamming the door shut and setting the heavy latch. Tahno shouted in rage and pain, and punched the door of the cooler, denting it but unable to force the heavy steel open.

“Asami,” he heard Hiroshi say. “I always intended for you to join me, when you were old enough. I never meant to keep this secret this long. When it first happened, I was conflicted about it. I wanted things to stay as close as normal as possible for you…I wanted you to have your childhood.”

Tahno punched and kicked the cooler door, only succeeding in skinning his knuckles. The silver. He knew it was weakening him. He tried to rip the wire off his neck, but only made it cut further into his skin. He’d have to untangle it. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his gloves off and felt along the burning length of wire for the end, and tried to summon the necessary calm.

“But look at you,” Hiroshi continued. “A woman now…as beautiful as your mother.”

“Do you even remember Mom?” Asami’s voice came pained and trembling. “What would she say if she could see you now?”

“She would be by my side now, Asami. As one of us. As you shall be.”

“Dad, _no_ , I don’t want—” Tahno heard her scream, and his fingers slipped on the silver, burned and slick with his own blood. Finally, he felt it come loose, and threw it down. He pushed against the door again, then braced against the back of the cooler, feeling a piece of broken glass cut into him, and kicked the door hard. Finally, one of the bolts popped, and it fell crookedly off its hinges.

He leapt out of the cooler, and saw Hiroshi crouched over Asami. Hiroshi whipped around, fangs out, blood on his face. Fury shooting through him, Tahno pulled the stake from his belt.

Asami took advantage of her father’s distraction, and punched him in the mouth, and Tahno heard the clatter of a tooth hitting the ground. No, not just a tooth—a fang, he saw. Tahno couldn’t help but wince in sympathy. His own fangs were very sensitive, and he couldn’t imagine many things hurting more than that. Hiroshi doubled over in pain, groaning. “You…do you even know what you’ve done?” he cried, his hand closing around Asami’s bleeding throat.

Before Hiroshi could turn around again, Tahno sprang on him, burying the stake in his back.

He felt Hiroshi go limp under him, a sigh escaping from his lungs. Then he began to wither and desiccate. Tahno pulled the gruesome thing off Asami, and recoiled from it himself. Hiroshi’s face twisted grotesquely, his eyes sinking into his skull and disintegrating, his skin wrinkling around his bones like old leather. When it was done, Hiroshi looked like he really had been dead for twelve years.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” Tahno said, and forced himself to meet Asami’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Asami just stared at the corpse of her father in horror, her hand to the bleeding wound at her neck. “He tried to kill me,” she said. “You….” The tears started to fall. “You did the right thing.”

“Are you okay?” Tahno asked. “Did you…did he make you drink his blood?”

“No. He wasn’t done draining me,” she said. She tried to get to her feet, unexpectedly shaky, and Tahno caught her.

“Are _you_ okay?” she asked.

“I…” Tahno said, unable to avert his eyes from the face of the man he’d killed. “Yeah, I’m fine. I killed your father in front of you, and you ask me if _I’m_ all right….”

“Your neck, and your hands….”

“It’s healing. Mostly healed already, it just looks bad,” he said. He tore a strip of fabric from his sleeve. “Your neck, though,” he said, and wrapped the fabric around it. He could almost feel the lump in her throat as he bandaged her.

“Here, let me see,” he said, lifting her hand. It was gouged deeply where she’d hit Hiroshi’s fang. “That’ll scar,” he said, wincing.

Asami nodded. “Good. It’ll remind me.”

Tahno wasn’t sure what exactly about this she wanted to be reminded of, but didn’t think it was the time to ask. “This is a little weird, but it’ll help with the pain,” he said, and licked her wound before bandaging it.

Asami took a few steps, and knelt on the ground where her father’s fang had fallen. She picked it up and looked at it a moment, then pocketed it.

Tahno shuddered, finding that rather morbid.

“Come on, we don’t want to be found in this mess,” she said, wiping her tears away. “We need to find Iroh and Bolin.” She found her electric glove, which Hiroshi must have taken from her, and pulled it back on over her bandaged hand.

Tahno just nodded, and followed her out.

They found Iroh and Bolin not long after, tied to each other in a cell, singing drinking songs. (“It makes us easier to find,” Iroh had said defensively.) Both did a double-take at Asami and Tahno’s appearances, and Tahno realized they must be a sight. His own clothes were torn and he was covered in blood—some of it his, most of it from the broken bottle in the cooler, and Asami had clearly been crying, and her neck bandaging was all too obvious, even with her collar pulled up around it.

“Did Tahno…do something?” Bolin asked.

“You think _I_ did that to her?” Tahno said, and kicked the lock on the cell with considerable force. It bent slightly, but didn’t give, and he clutched his foot.

“Are you okay?” Asami asked.

“Yeah, fine, fine, I got this,” he said, grabbing the lock and twisting it. “Really, Bolin, I come all the way here to save your ass, and you think that I would….” The lock gave, and he swung the barred door open, smirking.

Tahno looked over his shoulder at Asami, rather impressed with himself, and saw her dangling a key from her fingers.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“The key.”

“Oh. Where did you get it?”

“That guard we beat up in the hall.”

He shook his hand. “And you let me do it that way _why_?”

“Well, after you kicked it, I wasn’t sure the key would work. Besides, you looked like you needed the tension release.” She tossed the key aside, and drew a pocket knife that she used to untie Iroh and Bolin.

“Thanks,” Bolin said. “I was starting to get worried—your dad’s here, you know.”

Asami withdrew. “Yeah…yeah, I know.”

“What, did you—” He took another look at the state she and Tahno were in.

Iroh put a hand on his arm. “Let’s just focus on destroying that airfield.”

A slight smile broke through the pain on Asami’s face. “Yes, _let’s_.”

Tahno didn’t do much after that. Bolin was occupied with earthbending the airfield, and Iroh took a plane to chase the escaping fleet, while Asami found one of the mech suits and did a fair amount of demolition of her own. Not being able to earthbend, fly a plane, or pilot a mech suit, Tahno went and got himself cleaned up and got another Equalist uniform and another bottle of blood to replace what he’d used healing. He found Asami again, punching a twisted heap of metal that had probably once been another mech suit with the platinum fists of her own suit.

“I think it’s dead,” he said.

The chest of the suit opened, and Asami leaned out. She looked like she’d been crying more. “You might want to stand back,” she said.

Tahno stepped backwards, and Asami ripped out some of the wires, crossed them, and opened the fuel chamber. She got out quickly and ran, and the suit caught fire.

“There,” she said. “I think that’s everything.”

“We could burn the whole building down,” he suggested.

For a moment, Asami looked sorely tempted. “No…there’s still some people inside that we knocked out.”

“Hey,” Bolin called, “the airfield’s done. Pretty sure no one’s going to be taking off there for a while. You guys done in here?”

“Yeah, I think we are,” Asami said. “Where’s Iroh?”

“He took a plane. We should probably go look for him.” Bolin hesitated. “Are you all right? Your dad….”

“Fine,” Asami said, a little too quickly, then looked at him warmly. “Thanks. I just…I’ll be okay.”

Bolin nodded. “Let me know if…if you need anything.”

“I’m going to go down to the arena to find Korra and Mako,” Tahno said.

“Do you need help?” Bolin asked.

Tahno shook his head. “Asami’s hurt, she’s in no shape to come along for this, and someone should look after her. Besides, you need to find Iroh.”

“Going to kill Amon?” Asami said.

For a moment, Tahno felt a great weariness come over him. He wasn’t exactly weeping for Hiroshi Sato, but seeing his face in death…. He was quickly losing his taste for killing. “Yeah. I guess I have to.”

She nodded, and he wondered how she must see him, if she would ever look at him the same after what she saw him do. “Good luck.”

He wanted to kiss her forehead, to hold her close, and she looked like she wanted _someone_ to, but he wasn’t sure he was the person she’d want that from now. “Take care of yourself,” he said, only glancing back at her once, to see Bolin with his hand on her shoulder, offering support.

-

Tahno found them standing on the balcony, and gave Korra a wink through his goggles.

“How’d it go?” Korra asked.

“Airfield’s down. Hiroshi Sato’s dead,” Tahno said.

She clapped him on the back. “Good job. Everyone all right?”

“Yeah,” Tahno said. “Asami’s hurt, but I think she’ll be all right.” _Physically, anyway._ “What’s the plan here?”

“Amon’s going to come out, do his thing, give his little speech, then we follow him out. We’ll get him before he can disappear into some airship or something. Element of surprise.”

As if on cue, Amon made his entrance on the stage. He started retelling the story of his grudge and how he had been inspired to start a movement—that he’d been a non-bender, born to non-benders, his parents killed by firebenders, himself left near death and only saved by vampire blood, all at the tender age of fourteen. His small frame and young voice only added sympathy—he was eternally the child victim, the martyr.

“He’s such a liar,” Korra grumbled. “He wasn’t a non-bender, he was a waterbender. And he wasn’t turned to _save_ him.”

“Yeah, but there’s no way to prove that,” Mako said. “It’d be your word against his.”

“I wonder why he’d even lie,” Korra said.

“He’s making vampires into the heroes,” Tahno said. “He was turned against his will, and he went on to do that to others. Doesn’t make for a very compelling leader. He’s not leading a revolution, he’s just continuing the cycle of violence.”

Amon continued, “And now the Avatar and her benders have taken from us a true friend, a brother saved from death by vampire blood as I was, Hiroshi Sato.”

“ _What_ ,” Tahno hissed. “ _I_ killed Hiroshi Sato. He can’t pin that on benders—thanks _ever so much_ to him.”

Mako put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t let him get to you. We’re going to kill him soon enough.”

“You know, in a certain light, you’re a bit terrifying, Mako,” Tahno said.

“Funny, coming from you,” Mako said, his voice flat.

“All right, you two, don’t draw attention to us,” Korra said.

“And now,” Amon said, “I will rid the world of airbending—permanently.”

A piece of the platform raised, revealing Tenzin and his three children gagged and tied to posts.

“He…he wouldn’t,” Korra said. “Even this crowd can’t be okay with him killing three children in front of them.”

“He’s killed in front of crowds before, hasn’t he?” Tahno said dryly. “I guess I was the practice run.”

“But they’re just _babies_ ,” Korra said.

“This crowd’s full of vampires,” Tahno said. “And those who aren’t fine with it—human or vampire—are being sent a message. He rules just as much by terror as he does by charisma and lies.”

“It’s your call,” Mako said. “Do we stick to the plan, or….”

“I can’t let this happen to them,” Korra said. “Come on.”

Korra and Mako took off in a blast of firebending just as Amon was starting to raise his mask by Tenzin. Tahno stared after them a moment, realizing that, not being a firebender, he couldn’t run along the wall like that, and ducked back in the hall to meet them around the slow way. At least he knew the arena quite well, from his years of pro-bending, and he was fast and strong this time. He met another Equalist guard who tried to question him, and threw him out of the way. He passed a wooden crate and snapped off a makeshift stake.

He ran into Korra and Mako in the hallways. “Run!” Korra said, blasting fire behind her, and he saw Amon’s mask and several other reflective sets of eyes not far behind.

“Where’s Tenzin and the kids?” Tahno asked.

“Getting Pema and the baby. We’re drawing Amon’s fire so they can get away safe.”

“Yeah, that worked great for Beifong,” Tahno said.

They turned a corner, and Tahno flattened himself against the wall, waiting, stake in hand. He waved Korra and Mako on. Amon passed, and Tahno sprang at him, grabbing Amon’s shoulder and holding the stake up to strike. Amon turned, his eyes seeming to pierce through Tahno’s heart, and the stake went limp in Tahno’s hand.

Amon chuckled. “Did you want to kill me?” He turned to face him, his chest an open target. “Go on then, do it.”

Tahno gritted his teeth and renewed his grip on the stake, and tried once more to plunge it into Amon’s heart. His hand stopped just short, shaking. It was like trying to stab his own heart—his body rejected the idea.

Amon’s hand gripped over his, forcing the stake closer, pressing it into his own chest, his eyes locked on Tahno’s, and Tahno couldn’t look away. “Surely this isn’t mercy,” he said, and the stake pressed into Amon’s flesh, finding resistance, but Amon’s hand pressed his further. “Do you think I would show you any?” He pulled the stake back, twisting it around, at Tahno’s own chest, Tahno’s hand still under his. He felt the point press against his ribs, and Amon leaned so close that his own chest pressed against the base of the stake, only the shard of wood separating their bodies. He pushed closer, and Tahno felt the wooden tip dig in with a sharp pain.

Amon leaned in to Tahno’s ear, his mouth mere inches from where he’d bitten him, and the old bite wound, now scabbed over and mostly healed, throbbed as if with some phantom pulse. “I killed my maker,” Amon whispered. “You don’t have what it takes.”

A blast of fire came at Amon, making him jump back, his eyes suddenly wide. Tahno’s knees gave, dropping the stake, and he was aware of a few more fireblasts before he felt someone taking his hand and dragging him.

“Mako,” he said. “You saved my life.”

“Try not to remind me,” Mako said.

Mako pulled him into a room, and they heard Amon pass.

“Do you think he knew we were in here?” Mako whispered.

Tahno nodded, his eyes turned warily to the hallway. He couldn’t imagine Amon had missed Mako’s scent.

“Shit, he’s after Korra,” Mako said, visibly getting his resolve up and heading back out there. Tahno went with him.

“You sure you should be here?” Mako asked. “What happened to you back there?”

Tahno was walking slightly hunched over, his hand to the bleeding spot on his chest. “Shut up, he’ll hear you,” he hissed. Suddenly, his eyes went wide and he sped up. He barely even heard the fight. It must’ve been over quickly. And that scent gave him a good idea of who’d won.

Mako saw his reaction and ran ahead of him, and by the time Tahno reached the room, he saw Korra on the ground, a bloody mark on her neck, and Amon unmasked, his lips red. Tahno could see the resemblance to Councilman Tarrlok—the strong, angular features, the bright blue eyes. He could have been Tarrlok’s teenage son.

Amon and Mako stood in a standoff a moment, then Mako rushed him, sending waves of fire after him, shouting at him to let Korra go. Amon dodged, and Mako scooped Korra up and ran.

For a moment, Tahno hung back, and Amon turned and looked at him, a cruel smile on his face. “Just here to watch?” he taunted, before taking off after them.

Tahno swore, before following them. He wasn’t sure exactly what he could do, just that he had to see this through to the end.

Mako ran, occasionally shooting off fire behind him, which Amon easily dodged, gaining on him quickly. Even if Mako hadn’t been encumbered with Korra, Tahno didn’t think he could have outrun Amon. Amon struck him down with a blow to the head, and he and Korra fell to the ground. Mako came up fighting, but Amon struck him again, on the back of the neck, bringing him to his knees.

Amon locked his stare on Mako, and it seemed like Mako was almost hypnotized by it. Tahno didn’t know if this was some kind of vampire power, or simply the power of fear, but he remembered how Amon’s gaze had held him almost as strongly as the hands of the Equalists that terrible night. Mako’s eyes flicked to him, a silent plea for help, and Tahno desperately tried to think of what he could do. Amon’s back presented itself to him, an open target, yet he knew he couldn’t do it. He’d already lost.

Amon’s eyes flicked towards him, following Mako’s gaze, and this seemed to free Mako up slightly. He straightened his fingers to bend lightning, and shot it straight into Amon’s chest.

But Amon was only thrown back a few feet, his clothing scorched, but otherwise apparently undamaged. He smirked. “I’m impressed. It’s almost a shame to kill someone so talented. Almost.”

“No,” Korra said, stirring on the ground. She tried to get up, and for a moment, even Amon was transfixed by this painful sight. She faltered, fell, and it seemed as though she went towards the ground in slow motion, her hand cast out and the air almost pushing her back. Tahno’s eyebrows raised. _Can she airbend?_

On her hands and knees, Korra had a look of surprise for a moment, then her mouth quirked in satisfaction. Amon just laughed at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll give you some of my blood before you expire,” he said. “You have a few more minutes, I think.”

Korra yelled, a wordless sound of rage and desperation, and punched in Amon’s direction. For a split second, he seemed amused by this gesture, but the force of her punch continued, carried by the air, and knocked him backwards. Mako recovered himself, shooting fire at Amon, and Korra airbent herself to her feet, seemingly held upright by nothing more than air and will, and pushed at the air again. This time Amon was knocked back further, into a pile of wooden boards and a broken wooden pallet, and impaled on a jagged piece of wood.

Tahno felt it more than he saw it, as though it tore a ragged hole through his own chest. He gasped and fell, and unbidden, tears came to his eyes.

Dimly, he saw Korra collapse again, and Mako go to her side, screaming her name.

 _She’s dying_ , he thought, and it seemed like he was dying too. He found that he didn’t mourn his own miserable life all that much, not after what had become of it. The person he had loved being had died the night Amon bit him, and he was glad that in this half-life he’d seen Amon’s death through, even if he hadn’t gotten to help much.

 _But Korra, though_. He knew somehow that his tears were a physical reaction to Amon’s passing, but he told himself that they were for her.

Suddenly, he felt Mako’s hands on him, dragging him up, pulling him to Korra’s side. He felt grateful for that, a chance to say goodbye. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled to Korra, not sure what he was sorry for.

“Save her,” Mako said.

“What?” Tahno said. “I…what can I….”

“Your blood,” Mako ground out. “Save her.”

Instead of growing dimmer, the world was getting clearer, the haze passing. He wasn’t dying after all. Tahno sat up. “I can’t do that to her.”

“And I can’t lose her,” Mako said, tears in his eyes. “Do it.”

“Even if I could condemn her to that, I can’t…I can’t turn the _Uhvatar_ ,” he said. “She’s too important to the world.”

“So? Kyoshi was a vampire, wasn’t she?” Mako said desperately. “She’ll be fine. Just…I can’t let her die, I can’t.”

“You love her, don’t you,” Tahno said.

“Yeah,” Mako said. “I do.”

“Oh Korra, forgive me,” he said, and drawing his fangs out, bit his wrist. As he moved his wrist towards Korra’s mouth, Korra stirred.

“No,” she said weakly.

Tahno froze, drawing his wrist back. Mako tried to grab his hand, but Tahno was stronger, and pulled away.

“I can’t,” Tahno said. “Not…not like how it was done to me.”

“She’ll _die_.”

“That’s her choice. I won’t…I won’t become everything I hate.”

“I don’t _care_ what you have to become,” Mako said. “Look—there’s still a way. If you turned her, and you died before she drank human blood, she would be revived, and still human….”

“You’re asking me to _die_?” Tahno said.

“I would die for her,” Mako said without hesitation.

With a pang, Tahno realized he would too. As he’d realized only a moment ago, he didn’t value his own life all that much, as it was. And if Korra could go on living, as a human….

The tears were still flowing, like all of Amon’s tainted blood was pouring out of him. He hoped it would even work.

“Korra,” he said, pulling his fangs in and forcing a smile. “It’s going to be okay, all right? You’re not going to have to be a vampire. Not for long, anyway.”

“No, Tahno,” she said, catching his wrist before he could put it to her mouth. Her hand was very weak, and he could easily have overpowered her, but he didn’t.

“It’s all right, I promise,” he said. “I wouldn’t…I wouldn’t do that to you. Not permanently.” The blood at his wrist pooled and spilled over, dripping on her chest.

Korra shook her head. “You’re not going to die for me, stupid. I’ll…I’ll be fine.”

“You won’t be fine,” Tahno said. “You’ve lost too much blood.”

“I’m not scared,” she said. “Because…the Avatar…is always….” She trailed off.

“Just _do it_ ,” Mako said. “She can hate us later.”

“Maybe…maybe it doesn’t have to be my blood,” Tahno said.

“What, you want to grab another vampire here so they can pay the price?”

“No, no,” Tahno said. “I mean…she’s not dead yet, she just needs blood. Why not human blood?”

“A transfusion?” Mako said dubiously. “Aren’t those really risky?”

“If it fails…if it fails, then I’ll do it, okay? But it’s worth it to try.”

“Okay then,” Mako said. “She can have my blood.” He pulled up his sleeve.

“No, she can’t,” Tahno said.

“Why not?”

“Because it…tastes wrong.”

“I thought you said my blood was delicious.”

“Yes, but it’s not the same…type, I guess. I…I don’t know, the blood has to be similar for it to work, right?”

“Why, what type does she have?”

Tahno shrugged. “I don’t know what it’s _called_ , it’s just…I’ll know it when I taste it.”

“Well, that doesn’t help us at all, does it?”

Tahno sighed. “Maybe…we could get her outside…there was a crowd there, surely someone would….”

“After we just killed their leader? We’d be lucky to get out alive.”

Tahno squeezed his eyes shut. “I don’t _know_ , okay, I just—”

They heard footsteps approaching, and soon Tenzin was by Korra’s side, his wife and children not far behind. “Is Korra okay?” one of the kids asked, and Pema called them over to her.

Tenzin put his hand gently on Korra’s face. “Is she….” he said, his face drawn and pained.

“She won’t make it to a hospital,” Tahno said. He looked up at Tenzin. “I wonder….”

“Hm?”

“Would you give your blood to Korra in a transfusion?” Tahno asked.

“Of course, if it’ll help her, but without proper equipment or a hospital…I don’t even know if we’re compatible.”

“I can test that, actually,” Tahno said. “May I?”

Tenzin held his arm out, and Tahno quickly took a taste. He actually broke out laughing on Tenzin’s wrist, his mouth full of blood. “Yes,” he said. “He’s the right type. Now hurry, quickly, some kind of…tube, or something.”

Mako ran off, and returned quickly with a thin, hollow piece of bamboo. “It’ll have to do,” Tahno said. He made the connection himself, working off his intuitive sense of bloodflow. He knew it was far from sterile, but hoped his saliva would help there—vampire bites were known to never get infected.

Finally, he wrapped around the wounds with strips of fabric torn off his clothes, holding the bamboo tube in place.

“You don’t know how relieved I am that you were the same type,” Tahno said to Tenzin, not mentioning what he’d promised Mako he’d do if this failed.

“My mother’s from the Southern Water Tribe, same as Korra,” Tenzin said. “Maybe that’s why we have the same blood.”

While they worked on this, Pema had called for an ambulance, and soon the healers arrived to take over. Tahno was told that it was because of his efforts that she was strong enough to make it to the hospital for treatment. He went in the ambulance with her, just…just in case, really, and didn’t leave her side until he was sure she was going to make it.

All the while, the tears didn’t stop flowing, and he felt an empty, numb sort of ache. Amon was dead, and somehow, they’d survived. He almost wished he had been forced to die for Korra—that would have been a fitting ending, a hero’s sacrifice. And at least then he wouldn’t be left wondering what the hell he was going to do with himself.  But it seemed he was going to live after all.

He could even live forever.

-

Tahno saw Beifong at the hospital too, briefly. Apparently the aftermath of having one’s maker die before drinking human blood was messy, painful business, and it seemed very touch-and-go. When he saw her, there were still bloody tears on her cheeks, partially washed away with clear, human ones. She was pale and haggard, and looked like she’d aged ten years in the ordeal.

But she was alive. Really alive.

He’d visited her, to see the miracle for himself. She’d reached out at the tears on his own face, and there was a moment of empathy, a shared pain that no one who hadn’t felt what they had could have understood.

Tahno didn’t even think he understood it himself. He’d hated Amon, and so had she. He’d destroyed their lives. He didn’t know why losing him felt like losing everything all over again.

They didn’t say anything. Maybe there weren’t words for that. After satisfying himself that she was alive, and okay, Tahno turned and left. Maybe that spoke loudly enough: _goodbye, and good luck, and I can’t stand to look at you._

He went to the bathroom and tried to wash the tears away, taking a towel to wipe the new ones with. They were slowing, somewhat. How long had it been, since Amon had died? Five hours, maybe six?

Finally, he came to sit in the waiting area, not knowing exactly what he was waiting for. He didn’t want to be too far from Korra, in case she needed him. But Mako was by her bedside now, and…she seemed to want that.

“Hey, Tahno.”

He looked up, and wiped at his eyes again, trying to make himself something like presentable. “Asami.”

There was a fresh bandage around her neck, and she looked a bit pale still, but otherwise….

“Are you all right?” she asked, sitting next to him.

“Yeah, it’s….” Tahno said, trailing off. He couldn’t think of a way to explain it. “It’s nothing.”

“I’ve been crying a lot too,” she said.

“I’m sorry, about your father.”

“I lost him a long time ago,” Asami said. “I just didn’t know it.”

Tahno nodded. “What happens next, do you think?”

Asami heaved a sigh. “That…. I don’t know. Korra’s got her work cut out for her when she recovers, doesn’t she? Amon really made a mess of things. Everyone on the Council except Tenzin is a vampire, along with Chief Saikhan and anyone else with power he thought he could use. I was just listening to the radio, they’re all clamoring for vampire rights now. It looks like Amon won after all.”

“You think some of the laws will change?”

“Well, I kind of doubt the Council are going to exile themselves to Dragon Flats,” she said. “But the mandatory blood donation, and the ban on bending—Korra’s not going to stand for that. It’s a really good thing she pulled through. I think we’d be lost now without her.”

Tahno nodded. “I don’t want…that kind of world either.”

“Maybe you should advocate, become a representative,” Asami suggested. “I mean, it would balance things out to have a moderate vampire that’s against mandatory blood donation.”

Tahno frowned. “I don’t really…I don’t want to represent vampires. I just want to get away from this mess.” He turned to her. “How can you be focused on politics, after what you’ve been through today?”

Asami shrugged. “It just…helps me, I guess. I can’t change what happened….I just want to focus on things I can still do something about.”

He nodded. “I can’t even think about that now. I just feel tired.”

“It’s almost dawn,” Asami said. “I’m taking the mansion back. You should come with me. I’ll bet my dad had lots of blood stored there, too. You could…help me clean that out,” she said with a slight smile.

“Well, how could I say no to that?” he drawled. They got up, and she took his hand, leading him out.

“Don’t worry,” she said, seeing him give the hospital an anxious glance on his way out, “Korra’s in good hands. And if anything goes wrong, they’ll call me. I’m the one paying for her care, so….”

Tahno nodded, and got into her Satomobile.

-

It was a little after dawn when they got back. Fortunately, her homecoming was mostly without incident, and she was recognized as the rightful owner of the home. She was right about the blood, too, though they found no actual _food_ in the house, and no stores that delivered were open yet.

Asami just shrugged. “I got some at the hospital. I can go out later.”

She brought Tahno to her room, and he scowled at the sun coming in her windows. “You know, it’s really funny,” Asami said, and pressed a button on the wall. A metal cover descended over the outside of the windows, blocking out the light completely. “In a way that’s in no way amusing, I mean,” she continued. “Dad had these installed ages ago. He said it was for my protection. I thought it was pretty unnecessary at the time…now I know he was planning ahead.” There was a dark edge to her voice, and a shadow passed across her expression, one she quickly pushed away. She patted the side of her bed next to hers. “Keep me warm?”

“I, uh,” he said, hanging back. “I can’t, actually. No body heat.”

“Oh. Well then, keep me company?”

“I suppose I could do that,” he said, and cautiously got into the bed.

“I don’t bite, you know,” she said.

“Well, I do.”

“But you’re not hungry now, right?”

“Yeah. I helped myself to your pantry.”

“Then I’m not worried,” she said, settling in with him. She pulled the covers over them, and rested her head on his shoulder.

His tears had mostly stopped, just a slow ooze now that he occasionally wiped at with the towel in his hand. The question of _what now_ had been plaguing him, and not in the political sense.

Tahno held Asami a little tighter. He’d almost forgotten what it was like to feel lucky, to have something good happen in his life, even if nothing could erase the wrongs that had been done to him. This time he wouldn’t take any of it for granted.

-

He woke slowly, peacefully. He guessed it was early evening. The room was well lit by a lamp, though the sun was still mercifully blocked out. Tahno opened his eyes, squinting.

“Hey,” he said, seeing Asami awake next to him.

“Hey, yourself,” she said.

“So,” he said blearily, “do I snore?”

“Do you ask that whenever you stay the night in a girl’s bed?” Asami said.

“I don’t…I don’t usually stay the night.”

She smiled. “You don’t breathe at all, actually. When you sleep.”

“Oh,” Tahno said, oddly disturbed by that. “That must be…weird for you.”

“I was jealous,” Asami said. “You looked so relaxed.”

 _Hah, ‘relaxed_ ,’ he thought. _Suppose that’s better than saying ‘dead.’_

She held something up, that she’d been looking at. Her father’s fang, he realized, flinching.

It was a narrow tooth, concave, meant to slide over the short human canines, razor sharp. “Look,” she said. “There’s sort of a hole, it goes straight through it.” He saw that there was, going from the top of the tooth through to a small opening just above the bottom point on the inside. “You don’t like, suck the blood through that little hole, right?” she asked.

“No,” Tahno said. “Maybe he had a cavity.”

“Let me see yours,” she said.

“No,” he said.

“Why not?”

“I don’t…like them,” he struggled to say. “I don’t want you to see me like that.”

“You’ve already bitten me.”

“I know.”

“And your eyes are all crusted with blood. It’s not like—”

He sat up suddenly, finding the old towel from last night and rubbing at his eyes. The towel was stained and stiff.

“So you’re just going to pretend that you’re human?”

“I can’t exactly do that, can I?” he said. “I’ve still got to drink blood, and avoid the sun, and it’s not like I can get my career back. I’ve got enough reminders that it’s not like I could really lie to myself. I just want to feel…in control of it, as much as possible.”

“All right,” Asami said. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s…it’s fine,” he said. “I should get cleaned up.”

“There’s a bathroom through that door.”

Tahno went where she’d indicated, and whistled. “Swank.” He coughed. “I mean, almost as good as the one I had….”

“It has whirlpool jets.”

For a moment his expression became distant. His tub had been large but plain, but he’d always made his own ‘whirlpool jets.’ “Sounds nice,” he managed to say.

She came in with him, and watched him as he ran the warm water over his hands. “You still miss it,” she said.

“I’ll always miss it,” he said. “I…barely even got a chance to mourn it, with everything else going on.”

Asami sat on the rim of the tub, next to him.

“You…you really want to see my fangs?” he asked. He really never could resist showing off, and since he couldn’t do that with bending anymore…. He didn’t think of his fangs as anything to be proud of, but if _she_ was impressed by them, then maybe….

“Yeah,” she said, “I mean, if you don’t mind.”

He’d never called them out willingly when he wasn’t about to bite something, having much more practice in trying to get them to go back in, but he found it wasn’t difficult at all. “There,” he said, and pulled his lips back to show her. “Happy?”

For answer, she kissed him. It was a light kiss, chaste, then she pulled back. He looked at her, startled.

“I thought you wanted to see if they had that little hole in them,” he said.

“Let’s see, then,” she said, and kissed him again, this time her tongue probing for entry to his mouth. He relaxed, allowing it, and her tongue brushed up against his fang, feeling it. He tasted the sudden tang of blood—they were, after all, _very_ sharp—and from her jump realized that had been unintentional.

Tahno made a little incoherent sound in his throat, his own tongue darting after her cut. Asami seemed to have realized what had happened, and used it to her full advantage, teasing and rewarding him with drops of blood. He wasn’t really hungry, so he didn’t feel in danger of losing control, but the taste of her blood was very nice just the same.

They kissed like that until he realized he ought to turn the tap off, before the tub overflowed.

“I’m going to get naked now,” he said, undoing the fastenings on his shirt. “If you stick around, it’s only fair that you should too.”

Asami slipped the first knee-high sock off, grinning at him. “I thought you’d never ask.”


	7. Epilogue

Tahno heard the crunch of tires on gravel, and went downstairs to meet Asami.

His eyes lit up when he saw what she was carrying. She put the bottle of blood in the warmer she’d invented. It was a tricky thing—if the blood was cooked, it was worse than useless, but getting it to body temperature really did make it infinitely more palatable. So it had to be warmed slowly, but it was worth the wait.

His fangs were already out. Apparently his body had been trained to react to the sight of red bottles. He found that rather silly, considering there was nothing for them to bite.

“Hope that didn’t set you back too much,” he said. Since the repeal of the mandatory donation laws, blood donation was at record lows. It was understandable, but Amon had also left quite a few new vampires, making the whole thing an even bigger mess.

Asami shrugged. “It’s not really optional.” She sat next to him, looking him over. “You’re starting to get that ragged look again,” she said. “I need to get more, don’t I.”

Since blood had gotten scarce a few weeks after the revolution, she’d done an admirable job of finding him a supply, but it always seemed just short of enough. Over time, that deficit had been collecting. But knowing how hard she was trying, he didn’t want to say anything.

“Well, as I get older I’m supposed to need less,” he said. “Something to look forward to.”

“I can’t even imagine what other vampires are going through now,” Asami said. “I feel bad outbidding them for blood. Of course the Council get theirs. They need to do something for everyone else.”

“I thought you were against the mandatory donations.”

“Of course I am,” she said. “But they could…incentivize it,” she said.

“So, no mandatory donations, just push the poorest people into doing it so they can eat,” he said. He’d never been one to think much about politics before, but spending this much time with Asami over the past three months was sharpening his skills, and he was coming to enjoy their friendly sparring. This was her pro-bending. He wasn’t really a player, but he could go a few rounds for fun in the gym, so to speak.

“Who do you think the vampires are going to attack when they get desperate?” Asami said. “I know it’s not a perfect solution. The vulnerable populations always pay the price for society’s mistakes.”

“That’ll be you before long, at this rate,” Tahno said. “Hope you’re saving some blood to sell.”

It was no secret by now that Future Industries was doing badly. The customers that didn’t hate it for its past collaboration with Amon and hate Asami for openly dating a vampire blamed Asami for the death of her father and the fall of the revolution. She was the villain of both sides.

“How am I supposed to sell blood to buy more blood with?” she asked. “Silly.”

“I thought you might just be selling it for food,” he said. “After you gave up supporting my expensive ass.”

“Oh, shush,” she said. The blood warmer beeped, and she got the bottle and handed it to him.

“Thank you,” he said, taking it from her and opening it. He closed his eyes and drank it in one long swallow. It would never be as good as fresh from the source, but he was amazed at how much simply warming it did for it. He gave a contented sigh when he was done. “I don’t know where I’d be without you,” he said. “I always thought that if my career fell through I could sell my body or something, but I doubt anyone would want it anymore.”

“You might be surprised,” she said.

“Yeah, there’s some _weird_ people out there,” he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

Asami picked up her jacket. “Going to the Council meeting?” he said.

“Yeah,” she said. “I think you should come with me this time.”

“You know I don’t like getting involved in that stuff.”

“You don’t have to say anything. There’s just someone I want you to meet.”

“Who?”

“Suki. She’s a famous vampire.”

“Oh,” Tahno said. “I don’t really…like other vampires.” _I don’t even like myself,_ he thought.

“That’s prejudiced,” she scolded.

“Not really,” he said. “I know how they think.”

“Is that why you haven’t looked up your old teammates?”

He looked down. “Yeah. Partly.” It was true that he wanted to remember his friends as they were, and hopefully be remembered as he’d been. If he saw that bloodthirstiness in their eyes, he knew it would be there every time he called up an image of their faces.

But there was also the matter that he was relatively well fed in hard times. He knew Asami was struggling to get enough blood for him, and couldn’t support two other young vampires. He didn’t have any help to offer them, and since he doubted they’d be doing as well as him, it’d just be rubbing it in their faces.

Besides, he didn’t even know if they were still alive. They could have fallen to despair, as he almost had, or…he didn’t want to think of them starving to death. That was an awful end. But it was possible.

“I really think you should meet her, though,” Asami said, breaking him out of his thoughts. “Even if you end up not wanting to talk to her…. Korra will be there, too. Come on, you never leave the house anymore.”

He gave her a mournful look. “Will it make you happy?”

She pouted. “Oh, you with the sad puppy-cub eyes. Yeah, I’d like to go out with a gorgeous man on my arm,” she said.

“I thought you and Mako broke up already?”

“Now you’re just fishing for compliments. Since the mirror thing is a myth, you really have no excuses.”

The corner of his mouth quirked up, a sly smile breaking through. “Well, fine, if you need arm candy _that much_. Though I seem to recall we went out for dinner recently.”

She held out her arm, and he linked his in it easily. Despite not doing much but lounge around the house, he was well-dressed and presentable. Asami always saw to that. “That was two months ago,” she said.

“Ah,” he said.

“You didn’t have much fun, did you?”

“Well, I couldn’t eat any of the food,” he said. “Other than that, it was great.”

They got in her Satomobile, and Asami turned the heat vents on for him. It really had been a while since he’d been out. He’d told Asami he just needed the chance to rest, after everything he’d been through, and maybe that had been true for a while, but he knew he was just sinking in place now.

Besides, he couldn’t think of anything he really _wanted_ outside. He wasn’t hungry enough to worry about being a danger to people, but he still didn’t enjoy the way his senses seemed to classify them as food first and people second. He couldn’t go to the gym and practice, and all his friends had been part of his old life as a pro-bender. There wasn’t much else to do, other than wander around aimlessly, and that seemed like unnecessary effort. It was much easier to just lay about in Asami’s home.

It occurred to him that he wasn’t exactly living _for_ anything. If he died right then, there wouldn’t really be anything left unfinished, and he wasn’t looking forward to anything, either. He was just sort of…existing. Not for the first time, he wondered what Asami could possibly see in him.

They arrived, and ran into Korra on the way in. Her face lit up at the sight of him. “Hey, Tahno,” she called. “You look great!”

 _Great_ was a relative term. The shadows were creeping back under his eyes since the blood shortage had begun, but considering he’d been a complete wreck most of their time together, he could see how she would think this was pretty good. At least he was clean and groomed, anyway.

“Are you cool with hugging now?” Korra asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “Of course.” They hugged tightly, Korra nearly lifting him off the ground.

“How have things been?” he asked.

Korra rolled her eyes. “Oh, you know. I’m losing my patience with this bullshit. Did Asami tell you about the time I almost got kicked out of the council meetings for punching Min in the face?”

He laughed. “We talked about almost nothing else that week.”

They walked in together, Asami and Korra talking about issues to be brought up in the meeting. Neither were official councilmembers, but Korra got special privileges for being the Avatar, and had insisted on having Asami on as an advisor. From what Asami had said, the two of them and Tenzin were all that was keeping Republic City from complete chaos.

As they entered the lobby, Tahno saw a figure clad in dark green clothes and armor in an archaic style, standing out like a museum piece amongst everyone in their modern dress. She turned towards them, and her face was painted bone white, save for the red streaks above her eyes and her red lips. A golden headdress sat upon her head like a crown. There was a flicker of recognition on her face, and she looked at him more closely.

Tahno didn’t have a word for what he felt, with her looking at him like that—something between awe and irrational terror. That she was a vampire was obvious, but he’d never met another vampire like her, even Amon hadn’t been close. The breath left his body in a little gasp, and he forgot to take another.

She was _ancient_. He couldn’t guess how old, just that he felt the weight of her years crushing him. She hadn’t been much older than Amon had when she’d been turned—fifteen, maybe sixteen, but her eyes were so much older. There was something else about her, even deeper than the immensity of her age that he felt, a power she held over him. He couldn’t explain it, but…his blood _knew_ her.

“Tahno? Are you all right?” Asami’s voice snapped him out of it slightly, and the other vampire turned and walked to the inner chambers.

“I just…think I need some air,” he said, going back out the door, and leaning against the wall outside.

 _What just happened_ , he wondered. _What_ was _that._

“What’s wrong?” Asami asked. “You just got all weird when Suki looked at you.”

“What _is_ she,” Tahno said.

“She’s a vampire.”

“I know that,” he said. “She’s….” _Not natural_ , he thought, but that rather went for all their kind. “How old is she?”

“She said she was four hundred and seventy-two,” Asami said.

“I thought you’d say she was like three thousand or something,” he said.

“She’s the oldest known living vampire,” she said. “I mean, think about it. She’s old enough to have known the Air Nomads.”

So the oldest known vampire wasn’t even five hundred. He wasn’t sure if he was surprised or not. Vampires didn’t age and didn’t get sick, but it was still a dangerous life. He remembered Asami showed him some statistic saying most new vampires died within the first five years after the change. The demands for blood were at their highest during that period, and many starved, or were driven to attack people and killed in self-defense. They were also at their most vulnerable to vigilante justice, which had shown a resurgence in the wake of the revolution. And then there were the ones who took their own lives, a temptation he wasn’t unfamiliar with.

Amon, for all the damage he’d done, had only been in his forties. He’d probably have lived longer as a human. Now that he thought about it, four hundred and however many years Suki had lived since she was turned was an awful long time to be a vampire—to continue to find blood, to make enemies and survive them, to find a reason to live. He’d only made it three months, and that felt like twenty years already.

“I have to get back in, they’ll be starting,” Asami said. “Come with me?”

Tahno glanced back in the direction of the door. “I…can’t.”

“Come on. I talked to Suki on the phone before she came here. She seemed interested in meeting you. I thought that maybe she could help you.”

He shook his head. “She…scares me.” That wasn’t quite the word for what he was feeling, but it was close enough and would have to do.

Asami took his hand. “I’ll protect you, I promise. And Korra’s there too. What could possibly happen?”

He wasn’t afraid of anything _happening_ , specifically, but didn’t know how to explain that to her. Tahno thought he must look ridiculous, balking out there like a child afraid of their first day of school. Embarrassed, he swallowed his unease and followed her back inside.

They sat down at the long, crescent-shaped table. Originally, seating at that table had only been for councilmembers, but Korra had changed that, Tahno remembered Asami telling him. ‘A table of equals,’ though ‘equality’ had come to be something of a dirty word these days.

There was a new representative of the Northern Water Tribe, replacing Tarrlok, and now the only other human on the Council aside from Tenzin. She was around fifty, her gray hair cropped short, and she wasn’t a bender, making her also the only member of the current council not born a bender.

Tarrlok was still in jail. His trial was ongoing, but the courts were slow due to the burden of sorting out the mess the revolution left behind. Tahno doubted he’d get much more than a slap on the wrist, considering he’d already paid for the crime of bloodbending more harshly than the law provided for. Then again, he supposed that depended on how angry the Council were about him bloodbending _them_.

He glanced around the table, only daring to look at Suki out of the corner of his eye. She wasn’t paying attention to him, her focus intent on the three vampire councilmembers.

They were arguing over the current hot-button issue—what exactly ‘lifetime appointment’ meant, with regards to vampires in the Council. The newspapers had been hyping it, and anti-vampire groups were saying that it meant that vampires could not serve, or at least that their appointment had been terminated upon their deaths. Other, more moderate people said that it was fine for them to serve, but perhaps there should be an expiration put on their terms, in case they themselves did not expire.

The counterargument, of course, was that vampires, while theoretically immortal, were far from it in practice, and on average lived no longer than they would have as humans. Additionally, councilmembers could be removed by a majority vote of no confidence from the rest of the council, but considering vampires _were_ the majority, that didn’t seem to help things much.

Tahno risked a direct look at Suki. She was leaned forward on the desk, chin resting in her palm, and she heaved a sigh. It was not only such a human expression, but such a _teenage_ one, that it caught him off guard. _Four hundred and seventy-two years old, and she’s bored_ , he thought incredulously.

“Is this what you waste your time with?” she said. She didn’t raise her voice.

“What it comes down to is that we can’t get anything done while the people question our stewardship of the city,” Min, the Fire Nation representative said.

“Well, what have you done for them?” Suki asked.

“We—lots of things. We’re the ones that keep this city running.”

“Then why do they have a problem with you? On Kyoshi Island, the Kyoshi Warriors have the support of the people because we serve them first and foremost. If the people doubt your claim to rule, flimsy excuses and justifications aren’t going to help. Either show them how you serve them, or accept that you don’t serve them, and step down.”

The table erupted in an uproar, the Councilmembers shouting over each other. “ _Enough_!” Suki said. “Quiet, all of you!” The voices thinned almost immediately to Tenzin’s and the Northern Water Tribe representative’s, with Korra just finishing a sentence. They looked at each other, startled.

Tahno hadn’t been saying anything, but all the same had an oppressive sort of feeling, like an invisible hand clamped over his mouth. With mounting terror, he realized he didn’t think he _could_ speak if he tried.

“I’m sorry,” Suki said, and the feeling relaxed somewhat. She was slumped in her seat, looking at her hands. “I came here today because…this is all my fault.”

“How is it your fault?” Tenzin asked. “I remember my father telling me about you, but you’d already left for Kyoshi Island before I was born. I was under the impression that Kyoshi Island had stepped down from world affairs, considering the embargo, and their isolationist policy.”

“We did,” Suki said. “Because of what your father made me do.” She shook her head. “That isn’t fair of me. He may have asked it of me, but I was the one who did it.”

“You mean turning Yakone,” he said.

“It went against my beliefs,” Suki said. “The sacred blood of Kyoshi was never meant to be used as a _punishment_. We never turned anyone against their will, much less giving it to criminals. The first time he asked it of me, with Ozai, I was disgusted. My first answer was no. But…he was the Avatar, a position I’d come to respect very much. If Kyoshi had asked it of me….” She trailed off, distraught. “He was only a child, afraid to take responsibility for protecting the world if that meant taking life. I did it for him, under the promise that it would only be this once. But then, years later, he asked me again, with Yakone. I don’t know what his excuse was that time. He was no longer a child. He begged me, calling in every debt and favor, invoking his title as the Avatar….and I did it, but told him our friendship was over. I was too soft.”

She looked around the table, her eyes lingering a moment on Tahno. “He promised me Yakone would never walk free. But he has, and look what his blood has wrought. This is…a travesty, the blood of Kyoshi used to intimidate and condemn. And it’s my fault, and I don’t know what to do to fix it. Hiding from the problem on Kyoshi Island was cowardly. I have a duty to set this right.” She searched their eyes, one by one, her gaze deep blue and piercing, settling finally on Korra. “I won’t follow you blindly, Avatar,” she said, “but if your counsel is good, I will listen.”

Korra was silent a moment, thinking. “Thank you for coming, and for telling us this,” she said. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand—if Aang built Republic City, and he was friends with you, how come there were so many laws that worked against vampires?”

“That,” Suki said, “is a mystery to me as well.” She glanced at Tenzin.

“But things work differently on Kyoshi Island,” Korra said. “You have peace between humans and vampires there.”

“And have, for hundreds of years. But we’ve earned the trust of the people, with honor. Here you have common, petty criminals, and people who never wanted to be vampires, of _course_ it’s a disaster.”

“To be fair,” Asami said, “it’s not like it’s all the vampires’ faults. They’ve been marginalized, and several Triads have taken advantage of that, offering money or blood for hits on people. That’s how they hide gang assassinations, since a vampire always has a plausible motive.”

“It’s a delicate balance to maintain,” Suki said. “Once humans and vampires have a reason not to like each other, it is difficult to repair.”

“Well, restoring balance is what I’m all about,” Korra said. “I’ve even made a big deal of donating blood, so that people get the idea that it’s okay to do that again. Last time I went, I got heckled for it—both by people angry that I was donating, and by some vampire that was angry that I’d killed Amon and said he didn’t _want_ my blood.”

“And then there’s the black market,” one of the other Councilmembers said—the Southern Water Tribe representative. “Most of it is just people looking to make a few quick yuans, which is fine if they sell their _own_ blood, though there have been reports of Triads draining people. And on top of that, some of the black market blood has something in it that’s made vampires very sick—three are dead already.” Asami glanced at Tahno nervously at this.

“I don’t understand,” Suki said. “When you say blood donation, and selling blood…you don’t mean directly from the vein? A vampire must bite into the vein themselves, or they will become sick from it.”

“That’s not true anymore,” Asami said. “We can add anticoagulants now. Blood can be collected, stored, and distributed within a reasonable amount of time.”

Suki looked dubious at this. “I wouldn’t trust blood if I couldn’t see where it came from. How do you know the donor was willing, that way?”

There was a nervous silence around the table. Much of the blood circulating through Republic City’s markets was not, in fact, willing, and everyone there had been complicit in it in some way.

Suki put her head in her hands. “What a mess this is.”

-

He found her sitting outside on the steps, looking somehow small and lost against the lights of the city. Kyoshi Island was said to be a place untouched by time, without electricity or radio or these towers of glass and steel. He wondered why he’d even come out here. He wanted to let Asami drive him away from this place, crawl back into their bed, forget as much as he was ever allowed to forget.

But she looked at him, and he knew—she was lonely. He didn’t even think she’d done it consciously, but whatever strange power she had over him, it had called him to answer her need.

He sat down next to her, not knowing what to say, almost feeling as though he were awaiting a command. And if it came, and he didn’t like it? The awful, queasy feeling of powerlessness ran through him. Amon hadn’t had this power over him, and look at all he’d managed to take.

“I’m sorry about what happened to you,” Suki said at length. “It was my blood that was abused like that. I shouldn’t have allowed it.”

Tahno just nodded. _Why couldn’t you have come sooner. Why couldn’t you have stopped him._ He didn’t think Amon would have stood a chance against her.

“Perhaps you will come to understand someday,” she continued, “that even in such a perverse way, you were given a great gift.”

“No, I…” he started to say, and even speaking against her seemed difficult, his words and thoughts sluggish, as though he wanted nothing more than to agree so she would smile on him—“I don’t think that’s likely.”

“You don’t seem too badly off,” she said. “Perhaps you could eat a bit more, but you’re not starving. Miss Sato takes care of you. Are you…not happy?”

Tahno found, with surprise, that he hadn’t really asked himself that question before. He hadn’t considered it possible, that he might be happy. “I’m…fuck,” he muttered. “What are you doing to me?”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“Yes, yes, you are. From the first moment you looked at me. Or when—when you told us to be quiet, in the Council. What the hell was that.” The words flowed a bit more easily now, calling her out, but it did not quell the terror that she would be angry, that she would look at him and wish for him to die and he would die.

“Ah,” she said. “I think I know. You’re just very young. Don’t worry. It will pass.”

“What do you mean, I’m just very young. That doesn’t explain….”

“Do you remember when you were a small child?” she asked. “How big all the adults seemed, how they could make you feel very safe or very afraid. It’s a bit like that. You’re…a child, of my line. You’re just sort of impressed by me, I guess.” She seemed rather amused by that, as though she found it _cute_ or something.

“So you’re like my great-grandmother,” he said.

She smiled. “In human terms, I suppose. Oh, what have I let become of dear Kyoshi’s blood. I started it, I forced Yakone, and he forced Noatak I’m told, and that poor bastard forced so many…. Yet Miss Sato tells me you came out all right, that you were brave. I’m glad of that.”

He looked down, feeling a bit of a blush. “I’m not, really….” He’d been hiding away in the mansion for months. _Even against Amon…._ He thought of the moment when he’d had his chance to stake him, and been unable.

“You stood with the Avatar. Fought by her side. As I did, once.” She sighed. “There will never be another like Kyoshi. You’ll understand someday. There will never be another like Korra, either. You’ll look for her in some stranger’s face, then another’s. Maybe even trick yourself into seeing her there, for a moment. But secretly, you’ll think none of them are as good as her, that she was the _real_ Avatar, your Avatar.”

He tried to imagine that—Korra’s soul behind another set of eyes. Korra growing old and dying and him going to her funeral just the same as he was now. He couldn’t, not really. Korra _was_ the Avatar. Some of the older people in the city still meant Aang when they said the Avatar, but to him Aang was a statue.

“You never said if you were happy here,” Suki said at length.

“No,” he answered. “I don’t even know what ‘happy’ would mean for me now.” He slumped further. “Please don’t tell Asami I said that. She does so much for me…it seems ungrateful.”

“Perhaps when I’ve done what I can here, you should return with me to Kyoshi Island,” she said. “You can’t be a Kyoshi Warrior—we only take women—but you would be our honored guest. The people of Kyoshi Island would show you great hospitality. I need only tell them that you are a warrior who has fought by the Avatar’s side.”

He tried to imagine what that would be like—some bizarre world where people loved vampires, and everyone dressed like a piece of living history. “Asami would never leave Republic City,” he said.

“Did I say she was invited?”

“I don’t…I don’t want to leave her,” he struggled to say. “At least I can…at least I can disagree with her without feeling like I’m ripping my own heart out.”

“But if you aren’t happy here….”

“I don’t really hope for ‘happy,’” he said.

She frowned, and brushed some of the hair out of his face. “It can’t be _that_ bad.”

“Don’t….” he said. “Just because you don’t want to feel guilty…doesn’t give you the right.”

“All right,” she said, drawing back with a sad look. “The least I can do is offer guidance while I’m here, though,” she said. “I’m told Noatak wasn’t even there for you when you woke up.”

“Thank the spirits for small mercies,” he said.

“I mean that you had no guide at all, not even a bad one. And he took no responsibility for what he had made.”

“Still preferable to the alternative. If Amon had been there…. I’d have tried to kill him. Well, I did try to kill him, actually. I couldn’t even touch him with the stake. Then I’d probably have killed myself, just to…just to get away—fuck.” He wiped at his eyes. “Why couldn’t I kill him? Why did it hurt so much when he died? I _hated_ him. More than I’ve ever hated anything.”

“Killing your maker is…the hardest thing in the whole world,” Suki said, and the _way_ she said it, the weight of her words….

“You…but your maker was _Kyoshi_ , wasn’t she?”

“I loved her,” Suki said. “More than I’ve ever loved anything. Maybe that’s why I could do it. Noatak also killed his maker, Yakone, and I think in some twisted way, he also loved him.”

“But why?”

“She asked me to. I…hope she didn’t know what she was asking. I hope she wouldn’t have asked, if she’d known how it would hurt me.” Suki looked out into the distance—south, towards home. “The Avatar needs to die, in order to be reborn. Since vampires don’t necessarily live longer than humans, she didn’t worry about it at first. She did her best to be a good Avatar, despite not being able to bend without calling on the Avatar State, which was painful for her. But when she reached her two hundredth and thirtieth birthday, she told me that this had gone on long enough—that it was time for the Avatar to be born again in fire. That part of being a good Avatar was knowing when to stop.” A tear slipped down her face, and she wiped it off with her fingers and looked at the red smudge, startled. “Still,” she muttered.

“Are _you_ happy?” he asked.

“Well, I’m not happy about this mess in Republic City,” she said. “But in general…yeah, I am.” She saw him looking at the smudge of her tear. “Oh, you can be happy and sad at the same time. When you get old enough, you’re always going to be sad about something. But that doesn’t make the happiness any less real.”

They fell silent for a bit, and he chewed on that. “Actually….” he said hesitantly. “Can I ask you about something? It’s a bit of a…personal problem.”

Suki’s eyebrows raised. “I think I might be the only person you _can_ ask, if it’s a vampire personal problem.”

“It is.”

She smiled. “Then tell your great-grandmother.”

“Yeah, that’s…not helping. Okay. It’s just that, uh, after I you know, drink blood, I get kind of…aroused.”

“Yes?”

“Well, how do I stop that from happening?”

She laughed. “Oh, Tahno, how do you think a vampire reproduces?”

“What, I can get people pregnant?”

“No, no. I mean, vampires make more vampires by turning humans, right?”

“I’m not going to turn anyone,” he said quickly.

“Of course not—you’re not ready for that. But drinking blood isn’t just sustenance, it’s also the first step in our reproduction. So of course it’s associated with…certain drives. You might find it more controllable later…in some ways becoming a vampire is like being reborn, but in other ways it’s like going through _puberty_ again. Until then, when it happens, why not just take care of it yourself? It won’t hurt you.”

“Yeah, I tried that once,” he said. “It was…weird. I couldn’t think about normal stuff.”

“I’m guessing it was normal stuff for a vampire.”

“So you’re saying that turning someone is like sex for vampires,” he said, thinking with disgust of what Amon had done. As if he didn’t already feel violated enough.

“And like birth. And not like any of those things,” she said. “When I was brought over by Kyoshi….” She got a dreamy, faraway expression.

“What, you enjoyed it, being bitten and drained?”

“It makes all the difference in the world, being willing.”

“Yeah, I…guess it must.”

There was a long silence between them. He sensed anger from her—on his behalf, he thought. Hoped.

“I can’t even kill him,” she muttered. “That’s done already. I just have to clean up his mess. That’s a lot harder.”

“What will you do?”

“Spirits help me, I don’t know. I wish there was a way to take back the blood.”

“No kidding.” He caught Asami’s scent and turned, seeing her standing at a distance. She waved at him. “That’s my ride,” he said. “I should go.”

“Come and see me again. I can train you in the fighting style of the Kyoshi Warriors.”

The last time anyone had trained him in a fighting style, it had been with waterbending. His mind briefly went through the forms—useless, now. “Yeah. I’d like that.” He got up and started towards Asami, then suddenly turned back. “Oh, one more thing. Is my hair gonna grow?”

Suki laughed. “Yeah. Slowly, though, so think before you get a haircut.”

“Good to know, thanks.”

“Anytime,” she said, and waved.

“Did you work out whatever problem you had with her?” Asami asked him as they drove off.

He smiled weakly. “Turned out it was on my end,” he said.

“So, what did you think of her?”

“She absolutely terrifies me,” he said. “So, I’m going to see her again for fighting lessons.”

Asami looked pleased. “That’s good.”

“I guess,” he said.

“I thought she’d be good for you,” Asami said. “She can help you with things I can’t.”

“Some things,” he said. “Some stuff…I don’t think she can really understand.”

“Maybe you should talk to your teammates, then,” Asami said.

“No,” he said. _Not yet._

“They might need you, too.”

“I don’t think I’m strong enough to help them.”

“You might be surprised how strong you are.” She took her hand off the shifter and held his, and he ran his thumb over the raised scar her father’s fang had left.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, but it doesn’t really help,” he said.

“What about….” she began hesitantly. “What about your family?”

He shrugged. “What about them?”

“Have you thought of seeing them?”

“Yeah, that’d be…awkward and unpleasant. No thanks.”

“I just thought…I don’t know, maybe they could give you some support, or something.” There was a bit of longing in her voice. She was the last Sato. “You never talk about them. I wasn’t even sure you had a family until just now.”

“For good reason,” he muttered. “Well. Let’s see. I never knew my dad. Like Beifong, you know? Mystery man. I’m guessing Water Tribe, because I had to get it from somewhere, right? My mom and I got along great until she got married when I was ten. My stepdad, well, he’s a real asshole. He’s got seven brothers and sisters, all firebenders, but the bending passed him over, so he just compensates by being angry at everything. He’d get mad and find excuses to punish me if he saw me waterbending—said I was making a mess, or whatever. Mom saw this going on and didn’t say anything, so things got kinda strained between us too.

“Then my sister came along. Spoiled rotten _brat_. It seemed like she was always screeching or something. Mom said she was no worse than I was at her age, but I don’t know. She has her dad’s temper. Got her grandparents’ firebending, too, and my stepdad indulged her even when she burned my stuff, because _that_ wasn’t making a mess.

“I got out of there when I turned sixteen. Took odd jobs for a while, wasn’t very good at them. Usually got fired or quit within a week. Then I got into pro-bending. Haven’t really talked to them since then. But I mean…they’ve gotta know what happened. It was broadcast live on the radio, and in every newspaper for a week after. My stepdad used to go on rants about vampires—he’d go on rants about anything, really—and my mom never talked about it, but she never disagreed with him, so she must have thought the same. Knowing my stepdad, he’s probably training my sister by having her burn newspaper pictures of me, telling her to firebend first and ask questions later. And my mom…she’d see it, and do nothing.”

“You don’t know that,” Asami said.

“Well, it’s not exactly a secret that I’m staying with you now, so if Mom wants to make nice, she knows where to find me. Just promise me you aren’t going to contact her or anything. I don’t…I don’t need that, all right?”

“Okay,” Asami said. “I won’t do that. It should be your choice, anyway, if you want to talk to her.”

He lifted her hand and kissed it, feeling the scar against his lips. “This is why you’re the best,” he said. “I trust you.”

She took her eyes off the road a moment to look at him, warm and kind.

-

Tahno got changed into comfortable nightclothes, and paused, looking at himself in the mirror. By reflex, he found himself sort of mentally editing the image he saw reflected back at him, looking at it askance to see something more like what he expected or hoped for. He tried to look at it plainly, to detach himself from any reaction to what he saw.

Since the revolution ended and Asami had started taking care of him, he had cleaned up pretty well. A stranger might not have noticed much difference between this version of him and Tahno the pro-bending champion. But his color was still a bit off—maybe not off for a vampire, he thought, but not where it should be for a healthy human. The scar of where Amon had bitten him was still very visible, a livid purple mark on his neck. He’d taken to wearing high collars to hide it. Amon had bitten on the side where his hair was shorter, and it didn’t quite cover it. Maybe it would grow in time.

He hadn’t had the heart to style his hair the way he’d used to, and it hung in shiny, loose curls around his face. He just cleaned it and ran a bit of one of Asami’s creams through. Nothing that took too much effort. Still, not a bad look for him.

 _Now for the real test_. He extended his fangs, leaving his mouth slightly open. A vampire looked back at him, cold as the mirror glass. He still felt some horror and disgust at this, and some anger, but only weakly, dimly. He was so tired. He pulled his fangs in and crawled into bed, turning the heating pad on.

Asami had quickly learned his liking for anything warm that wasn’t sunlight, and fitted his side of the bed with the sort of heating pad they used in hospitals. He imagined it was better for her too, if the hand that wrapped around her in the middle of the night wasn’t cold as the grave.

Being a vampire meant he didn’t actually suffer from the cold, in the human sense, but he still definitely felt it, and found it uncomfortable. Getting his body up to a human temperature still felt… _right_. Normal. He definitely slept better.

Sometimes he did pretend he was human, which helped him relax. He didn’t think he’d ever go so far as to try that thing that looked like a medieval torture device Asami had found in her father’s study, which supposedly Hiroshi had used to give himself an artificial pulse, but heat and a little imagination went a long way.

Asami came in, holding a glass of wine. “Sleepy?” she asked.

“Not really.” It was natural for him to be awake at night, though he tended to resist that for the sake of spending time with her.

She sat down in bed with him, and sipped the wine. “I was thinking we could share this,” she said.

“Ah, that’s mean,” he said. “You know I can’t.”

“You can’t drink the wine, but you can drink my blood after _I_ drink the wine. It’ll be in my bloodstream.”

“I don’t know. What if that poisons me or something?”

“I talked to Suki about it, she said it would work.”

He hesitated. “But if it does make me drunk, what if I lose control?”

“We’ll go easy on it the first time. Just a little bit.” She finished the wine and set the glass aside, and he sat up.

His fangs sprang into his mouth as she untied the silk scarf at her neck. It fell away, and he saw the scar her father had left. It had healed better than his, he thought, but it was still quite visible. It dampened his ardor considerably.

He tried to smile at her, close-lipped. “It’s a nice thought, but you don’t need more scars.”

“That’s up to me, isn’t it?”

Not for the first time, or the last, he remembered his ordeal in the ring. If he had survived that, he couldn’t imagine ever being okay with being bitten again, under any circumstances. “Won’t it remind you too much?”

“Oh, sweetie,” she said, touching his cheek gently. “No. I don’t feel afraid when it’s with you.” She paused, looking at him. “Does it remind _you_ too much? You can bite somewhere else, if….”

“I think I’m all right,” he said, staring a bit more than he’d intended at her neck.

She lit a candle and turned the light off—a compromise, and perhaps even a romantic sort of ambiance to her eyes. He got out a bandage from the nightstand, and she shrugged off her robe and sat between his knees, facing him, her legs crossed over his.

He brushed the hair away from her neck, on the side that was unmarred, and leaned in close, his arm over her shoulder, and kissed her neck. For a minute or so, that was all he did—just kissed her, breathed in her scent, his fingers tangling in her hair.

He’d bitten her only one other time since the time in her Satomobile, in the sense of having more than a few drops. Blood took time to replenish, and she was sensible about it. He was glad of that. If she didn’t look after herself, he wasn’t sure he’d have managed to. He’d even have understood if she didn’t want to share her blood at all. She didn’t really need to, and he’d have been fine with that being their relationship.

Her blood pounded hot against his lips, through her fragile skin. He opened his mouth and half-licked, half just sucked at the skin without breaking it. Asami gave a little moan.

“Are you trying to turn me on?” she asked. “Because it’s working.”

“I just don’t want you to feel the bite,” he said. He kissed her neck again, tender, lingering, willing her to feel his affection for her, to feel only that and not the pain. Finally, he bit down, and felt the slight jump, the quickened breath. So she did feel it after all.

He could taste the wine in her blood immediately—a sharp burn, surprising, not unpleasant. It spread through him fast, barely even waiting to get to his belly before tingling through his extremities.

But the alcohol had nothing on the blood itself. He closed his eyes, his hand kneading at her hair like a kitten at the teat. He went slowly, resisting the urge to suck, just letting her heart pump the blood into him, feeling that steady, primal drumbeat as though it coursed through his veins too. He’d chosen carefully, a smaller blood vessel, less danger for her, more time for him.

She spilled over into him, warm and wonderful, and the pleasure pooled and thrummed in him. He never wanted to stop.

But he knew he had to, and did it without being told. He’d taken plenty; it would have to be enough. He pulled back, almost sated but never quite, and pressed the bandage to her neck. For a moment he hung there, his eyes hooded, his thoughts thick and slow-moving, applying pressure to stop the bleeding, licking his lips for any last trace of her, mindful of his fangs. He tried to tie the bandage off, but his fingers fumbled with it, uncoordinated, and she took over.

Tahno fell back on the bed, on his heating pad, feeling the warmth radiate up through him, mingling pleasantly with the warmth of Asami’s blood in him. The candlelight seemed oddly iridescent, everything it touched haloed. He smiled, open, unhindered, not even caring that his grin was marred by fangs.

“Worth it just for that,” Asami said.

“You’re _beautiful_ ,” he slurred. “I love you.”

“You’re drunk,” she said.

“Oh,” he said. “Well, it’s still true.”

“It isn’t fair. I barely even got tipsy, and you’re completely smashed.”

“Am not,” he said. “Just kinda…” he tried to remember what it felt like to get drunk as a human, to compare the experiences, “buzzed.”

Asami smiled at him. Her hand was on his leg, and she moved it up—slowly, deliberately giving him time to see what she was doing and react to it. He put his hand over hers to stop it. “Is _that_ why you wanted to get me drunk,” he said.

“I don’t understand,” Asami said, pouting. “I know it turns you on. Why don’t you ever let me…. Are you just not attracted to me?”

“Because it’s not…I’m not….” He trailed off, frustrated. “It’s a real shame we weren’t friends when I was human,” he said. “I would have made love to you for a week straight.”

“But now?”

“Now it’s…messed up,” he said. “My body doesn’t even feel like it’s mine anymore.” The words were choked out of him. “It’s all…wrong, and…my mind goes places I don’t want it to. I’m so sick of it, I’m so sick of this ruining everything.”

She lay on the bed next to him, her green eyes wide and meeting his. “Shh. It’s okay. You don’t have to.”

“I want to, though,” he said, his voice very soft. Officially, he was her boyfriend, but he was really a failure at that, wasn’t he? He’d tried to go down on her once, but his saliva had only numbed her, and he’d given up when feeling her hot pulse under his tongue had brought his fangs out, not wanting to nick her in a tender area. Even kissing got a bit awkward if they went at it too long, for much the same reasons.

She leaned in closer, just next to his face, almost kissing him but giving him the chance to show if he was uncomfortable. “Just be careful,” he said, and met her lips gingerly. She went slowly with him, though when her tongue touched his lips, he wondered if she tasted her own blood, if it would bother her.

Asami ran her hands down his chest, and he leaned towards her, inviting the contact. “Don’t think of anything,” she said, “don’t go anywhere, just stay right in this moment with me. Can you do that?”

Tahno nodded, taking her in with his eyes, seeing every contour of her face as though both new and familiar. He felt her hand slip the loose waistband of his sleeping pants down, exposing him, then her warm, gentle fingers on his cock. He gasped, moving his hips into her hand slightly. It felt even better than he’d expected it would. _It’s been so long._ For a moment he closed his eyes, and she hesitated, but then he surfaced again and looked into her eyes, letting her ground him.

 _Just stay right here with me._ He wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t even let himself linger on the taste of her blood in his mouth, or let his eyes trail down to her bandaged neck. Right now there was only her beautiful face, and her hand on him, and it was good. He could smell her arousal, thick and heavy.

Her hand moved faster on him, and his breath quickened. He didn’t think about the fact that he didn’t actually need to breathe—it felt right to do so, so he did it. It was a very human thing he was attempting now, so he would go about it in the human way. The pleasure mounted quickly. Apparently he was paying for the neglect of the past few months. _How embarrassing. I was never this fast._ He bit his lip, forgetting his fangs, and with the bitter taste of his own blood, realized he’d scored it deeply. Asami’s brow furrowed in concern.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said his voice breathy. “Just don’t kiss me.” He didn’t think she could be turned just from that, but he wasn’t taking any chances by letting his blood near her after he’d fed from her. “I didn’t say stop.”

Asami grinned. “Well, aren’t you getting demanding,” she said, resuming her attentions.

“Hnn,” he said. “Yes, okay, good.” Asami smiled—laughing at him a little, maybe, but he didn’t mind at all. _That_ was what sex had been like. Laughing at each other and silly smiles and the goofy faces they made. None of this serious, solemn business, like virgins trying to conceive an heir. The feeling came back to him, like finding an old trinket in a drawer he’d forgotten he’d had anymore.

“Asami…I’m gonna,” he panted, and she just nodded. The spasms of pleasure ran through him, and his face twisted up, and he wished he could ask her if he made the same stupid face when he came as he had before, but of course she wouldn’t know.

He spent a few moments catching his breath, before realizing he wasn’t actually _out_ of breath, and that was a great pity. His fangs retracted, the afterglow passed, and Tahno sat up, surveying the damage. It seemed he had released a great deal more volume than that time in the Air Temple basement—about the same amount as he’d been used to ejaculating as a human, which he supposed was due to not starving to death at the moment. He groaned. “Of course it’s blood. It’s _always_ blood.”

“But that’s normal for you, right?” Asami asked, looking at the reddish stuff on her hands.

“Ugh, don’t _touch_ it,” he said, grabbing a clean bandage from the side of the bed and wiping her hands off on it. He didn’t know if the stuff he came was the same as what was in his veins, but he didn’t like it anywhere near her. On that note, blowjobs might be out of the question, he thought mournfully. He’d have to ask Suki about it, anyway. Well, _that_ was going to be an awkward conversation. He couldn’t help but laugh a little to himself at that as he slumped back down on the pillows.

“What’s so funny?” Asami asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing. Seems I’ve just made another mess.”

“That’s why we have dark sheets.”

He smiled wryly at that. “Always practical. Well, now you see why I didn’t want to—it’s not very good, is it? I’m really sorry. I used to be a fantastic lover. I used to be a lot of things.”

“You’re telling me I wasn’t good? You seemed to like it a moment ago.”

“Oh, no, _you’re_ not the problem,” he said.

“Well, you got me really turned on,” she said. “Here, feel.” She guided his hand between her legs, and he found her heated and wet. He wasn’t actually surprised, given her scent, but it was a welcome feeling just the same. He tried to work at her as she had done for him, but his hand was fumbling, awkward.

“I never actually got good at this,” he said, embarrassed. “Well, I mean, I did, but I used a little waterbending. That worked every time.”

“You can get me off without waterbending,” Asami said. “I manage it myself all the time.”

“I can try, anyway,” he said. He was still a bit uncoordinated and fuzzy-feeling, and didn’t seem to be doing much more than teasing her after maybe fifteen minutes or so, despite his attempts to follow her suggestions. It also wasn’t helping that the urge to sleep after an orgasm was no less strong. _Of all the things to keep,_ he thought bitterly. _Ruin my entire sex life, but keep the refractory period._

“I’ll show you, here,” Asami said at last, and started to demonstrate. He watched, entranced, the deft movements of her fingers, the deepening satisfaction in her face.

“You can finish if you like,” he said apologetically. “Otherwise we might be here a while.”

She leaned towards him to kiss his forehead, and he only flinched for a moment when he thought she might have forgotten and tried to kiss his lips, with the bit of blood still beaded on them. “I don’t mind being a while here with you. I hope you’re not going anywhere.”

“Wouldn’t be anywhere else,” he said, and watched her bring herself to orgasm.

Afterwards, he started to pull her close, but realized his area of the bed was still stained from his come, and he felt revulsion towards that. So they slid over to her side of the spacious bed, but he realized, torn, that that meant leaving his dear heating pad behind.

“I’ll keep you warm,” Asami murmured. “Come here.”

He curled his body around hers, and was not disappointed in her warmth.

“We should do this more,” Asami said softly.

“And here I thought you were going to kick me out after that performance,” he said. “You were the only one who knew what you were doing.”

She touched his hand that was wrapped around her, stroking it. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ve had to go through a lot of changes. It must be like having to learn how to use your body all over again.”

“Or maybe…this body’s just not meant for this sort of thing,” he said, voicing the fear that had been on his mind.

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Asami said. “Anyway, it seemed to work fine when I was playing around with it.”

He kissed the top of her head, and breathed in the scent of her hair. She smelled amazing post-orgasm. “That’d be nice,” he said. “If you were right.” Just to have one thing this body was good for other than drinking blood and taking up space.

“Of course I’m right,” she murmured sleepily.

The candle guttered into the wax, flashing and flickering. Neither of them wanted to get up to blow it out, so they let it die the slow way.

Tahno drifted, feeling Asami’s pulse slow and regular against his chest, the steady rise and fall of her breath, lost in the rhythm of it. As he was on the cusp of sleep, he felt himself release a breath and not bother to take another one, and felt Asami relax against him further, as if that was the most natural thing in the world. It seemed good note to go out on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed this (and be honest, why else would you read 50k of it? I hope it was enjoyment D: ) you might be interested in [Ask Vampire Tahno](http://askvampiretahno.tumblr.com), a Tumblr askblog run by me.


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